Snowflakes of Love and War
by Bason
Summary: Elsa/Anna femslash pairing! A year after Frozen's events the Queen is trying to become a good sister WHILE ruling her kingdom rightfully, but love and war may have other plans.
1. More time

**Disclaimer: I don't own "**_**Frozen**_**" or any of its characters…it's probably for the best. **

**Author's Notes: I'm aiming for a roller-coaster of emotions. Please, read, enjoy, review!**

_Chapter One: More time_

The snow had been relentless in its assault over Arendelle. Yet, in this occasion, the nation was overjoyed. Christmas had arrived. Hence, the cold and snowflakes were not the consequences of a frightened and out of control Queen, but the customary results of the season. Moreover, high spirits were about because of the annual ball which had been determined would take place during winter from now on, in honor of the Queen. It had been her little sisters' idea, something the Queen had initially objected to; her efforts were clearly in vain.

That evening, Princess Anna of Arendelle had done nothing but skip from the arms of one gentleman to another's. It had begun to get tiring, to not say annoying. She had been looking for the means to escape for the last half hour. Actually, she had been looking for her dearest sister for the last half hour, in hopes of returning the favor of dropping one of these guys unto her, preferably the fat old man that was holding her waist a bit too hard. She laughed and twirled in all the right places, wondering why Kristoff was not here at least. She had invited him personally, and he had said that he would try. Of course, she knew that by his use of the word "try", he actually meant that he was really not going to make it.

The song was finally over. She curtsied, and made a hurried exit to the left. A master at evasion tactics (they had been learned as a late-night-candy-craving-child) she managed to shuffle through the dance hall swiftly, having little problems that she quickly directed to the hors d'oeuvre table. At last, she exited the hall through the doors behind the orchestra. The closing of said doors brought forth a profound silence that she welcomed greatly. She sat on a beautifully crafted wooden bench to her left and rested her head against the back wall. The wind was soft and mostly freezing, reminding her that she wouldn't be able to enjoy her reprieve for too long, yet she closed her eyes and relished it for the moment.

It was not until she heard soft murmurs that she opened her eyes in curiosity. Quietly, she stood from the bench and leaned over the balcony's rail in search of the source. The princess was slightly surprised when she recognized her sister, the queen, softly conversing with a young fellow on the lower floor. '_So there's where she has been'_, she thought. Anna continued to watch them in secret, chuckling softly at her sisters' posture. Over the last year, she had not only gotten closer to her older sister, but she also begun to understand her better, or perhaps she should say, for the first time; she could hardly compare the Elsa she knew through a keyhole as a child to the liberated Elsa that stood before her in the present. And because she had allowed herself to know her sister again, she could now pick on the meaning of certain mannerisms: like the constant shifting of her blue eyes, the polite yet forced smile she bestowed on her companions, the petulant crossing of her arms and the slight slant of her right hip; all telltale' signs of her immense boredom, and all present at the moment. She would think them quite evident to anyone, but it was conceivable that they were only visible to her who paid notable attention to her sister.

The princess kept on watching as the young man said something that urged the queen to laugh. She chuckled as well, knowing how much her sister hated having to act like a hypocrite, yet being forced to do so as a necessity for the sake of international relations. Seeing the gentleman try so hard reminded her of when she too tried arduously to get her sisters' considerations:

_For the first week in which her sister had become distant, sealing herself away in her room and barely coming out for bathroom breaks and dinners, little Anna had taken to only tapping on her door and calling out her name. Her father shooed her away whenever he saw her, but she would not be deterred. Relentlessly, she would tap on her door: Tap, tap, tap. Three of them, as it was the polite number her mother had thought her. Yet, she never received any taps back. She would stand on her tiptoes and look through the keyhole, wondering if her sister was even there. She was, sitting on the edge of her bed, staring at the floor sadly. So she would tap again: tap, tap, tap. Until she became bored with the constant numbers of taps, and decided to change it up a bit: Tap, tap, tap, tap-tap, or, tap, taptap tap-tap, tap-tap. Often she invented rhythms she knew not where they came from, but that sounded good enough for her inexperienced ears. She never got a response, but at least she had fun. _

_Of course, when Christmas arrived, the only thing she ever wanted to do was build a snowman. And she did, sometimes alone, other times with the help of the servants, occasionally with the aid of her father. But it was not good enough, she realized early in the holidays, because what she __truly__ wanted to do was build a snowman with her sister. So she knocked and asked her a few times, even sang her a song about it, but her sister did not seem to have the same desires. Or perhaps, her young mind thought, she had forgotten how to build one, or worst! How a snowman even looked! So she set on fixing her sisters problem. She went to her room and took out all the color pencils her father had brought her from his trip to the land with lots of Chinese people, and set on drawing a detailed example of what she wanted them to create. She drew three circles, the lowest one bigger than the middle one and the third, which would work as the face, big as the first one but elongated, with three branches on its top for the hair. Then added two big eyes, gave it two arms made of the same branches of his hair and three black buttons, with small snowballs as feet; and of course, what could not be amiss, a huge smile with only one tooth for adorableness. As soon as it was done, she ran to her sisters' door and shoved it halfway under it. The room swallowed it a short while after, and she became excited with the possibilities. But her sister never came out; she didn't return the drawing either. Disappointed, Anna went in search of someone else who would like to make a substitute snowman with her, in place of the one her sister did not want to make with her. _

_As most children, little Anna loved nothing more than getting presents. Christmas was her favorite holiday because of this, although her birthday was quite a rival to it. So it was only logical that Elsa loved presents as well; Anna was sure that her reasoning was dead on. Therefore, she set on a task of bringing Elsa things she thought her elder sister would enjoy; after all, Anna enjoyed them. Since she didn't know what her parents had given her for her birthday, and she clearly had no money, she opted for giving her sister things she could afford; this meaning things she could find in the surroundings of the castle. The first thing was a flower, a while lily that she had found close to the castle's fountain. She shoved it carefully under the door, but just as quickly it was shoved back with a strength that broke some of its petals. Anna concluded that Elsa didn't like flowers much. Well that was alright, because she had her color pencils and everyone liked those. Still, those rolled back to her as well. Baffled, Anna remembered once, long ago, that her sister's room was light blue; it reminded her of winter. So she shoved some snow under the door. It goes without saying that she got scolded for that one. An admonishment that was definitely not worth it, considering her sister pushed the snow out of her room too. Her last effort was done with resignation. She was sure it would not work. She would be rejected and her present forced out of the room like many others. Yet she tried anyway. She had been eating a few candies as she made her way to her own room, and had one small piece of chocolate left. Oh! How she loved chocolate! But maybe giving it to her sister would merit it. She kneeled down and pushed it hard and fast. She stood, and waited. The chocolate never came back, and faintly she could hear the rustling of its paper been taken off. Anna smiled triumphantly; she should have known that the way to her sister's heart was through her genetically-shared-sugar-obsessed stomach! She skipped to her room, vowing to bring her more chocolate tomorrow. _

Anna couldn't help but giggle at the memories. She should have done so more quietly however, because her sister noticed her standing there on the balcony. Anna covered her mouth quickly, but uncovered it as soon as she noticed that her sister was far from angry.

"Anna! I have finally found you!" The queen shouted to be heard over the distance and Anna quirked her head, wondering when her sister had been looking for her. "I am terribly sorry sir, but my sister had not been feeling well at the beginning of the ball and I must make sure she is better at the moment." Elsa said as she made her way to the entrance of the building, leaving the young fellow all alone on the terrace.

"What?" Anna whispered. "Oh!" She exclaimed, laughing as comprehension of her sisters' actions dawned on her.

She waited for the queen precisely where she was standing, to make her sickness believable, not that she thought the fellow could see her very well from there. So she opted to simply sit on the bench, out of sight.

"Anna?" The doors opened and the queen entered.

"I'm here." She replied softly.

Her sister smiled a big grin full of innocent guilt. Anna couldn't help but smile back in admiration of it. Sharing in her sister's delight, she laughed and took the offered hand to follow the queen out of the balcony. Avoiding any and all eyes, they made their way to a higher floor, occupying one of the many empty rooms of the castle.

"So what is this sickness that has taken a hold of me?" Anna asked closing the door behind them.

"The kind of illness that clutches the heart when someone is missed." The queen replied, twirling to face her sister.

"And who exactly is it that I miss?" The princess played along.

"Why, me of course! It is clearly not Kristoff, considering you had to ask!" Elsa countered with a teasing smile on her lips. She turned to open the doors to the room''s balcony and stepped outside, gesturing for her sister to follow her.

Biting her tongue at her lack of retort, Anna sat beside the queen on a large bench. The sisters stared at the glistening stars for a while, in utter silence.

Silence was not something Anna had knowledge of, or so the townsfolk (including Kristoff) would say, but the princess had recently learned to appreciate it; basically through her sister's example, albeit unknown to the queen. Her sister had taught her that in silence there was truth. The veracity of thoughts, of actions, and moreover of feelings floated in the stillness of the air when its occupants restrained themselves. It allowed Anna to esteem the beauty of her environ more profoundly, of the ever blinking stars above them, of the pale smoothness of her sister's cheek, of those barely darker blue eyes that were currently staring into her soul.

"What is it Anna?" A slight inward movement of blond eyebrows alerted Anna of her sister's worry.

She shook her head, resting her eyes on her lap. "Nothing. It's just…"

"What?" The queen insisted.

"You have a lot of suitors down there." The princess commented nonchalantly.

But what Anna didn't know was that in the same manner she had been watching the queen for the past year, the queen had been observing her as well. And she too had learned to pick on her sister's reserved truths. At the moment, the princess's downfall expression confirmed the queen of her dislike of the circumstances at hand; '_How childish of her, but still, how very adorable_, she thought.

She brushed small reddish trends out of her the princes's eyes to capture her attention. When Anna's visage lifted to hers, the queen planted her lips atop the expanse of her forehead. Anna closed her eyes, relishing in the distinct from winter kind of cold her sister's lips held. It spread, it relaxed her, it appeased an unperceived longing heart.

"I know this past year hasn't been nearly enough to make up for all those years of separation." The queen said, and Anna nodded. "But do not fret, we still have much time. I have no interest in any of those suitors."

Anna's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "With so many, you expect me to believe that none of them called your fancy?"

"Precisely." The queen replied, smiling.

Anna scrutinized her sister's face for a second. Then, believing her words to be true and with a heart full of elation, she stood abruptly from the bench.

"Alright! How about we build a snowman, and then I'll believe you!" Anna smirked.

The queen laughed, delighted in the lack of fear her powers had always imparted in her sister. She opened her palms and small snowflakes began to sprout from her palms. Elsa watched as her overly eager younger sister began to gather all the snow that fell to the floor. She was just like a puppy, and Elsa could not imagine herself loving someone more.


	2. Away from the Queen's eyes

**Author's Notes: You know what I hate? To start writing in the past tense and somehow end writing in the present. Ugh! I have to reread the chapter like a thousand times just for that.**

**In any case, I want to thank all of you that reviewed, alerted and favored. I'm glad you all like it so much; enough to finish writing this today instead of doing a final project for tomorrow…oh well. XD **

**Now, let the plot, begin!**

_Chapter two: Away from the Queen's eyes_

Being queen was hard work. Elsa had been sitting at her mahogany desk for most of the day, working on one paper or another. They were mostly trivial matters, finances that needed to be verified, food transport licenses that had to be authorized, contracts that she could not postpone the signing off. But Elsa was used to all of this: an aching back, a strained neck, the burning eyes, all due to her never ending workload. Because Elsa had been the rightful regent since the sudden death of her parents, it just so happened that no one knew.

"_And that is how Arendelle obtained the territory it controls today." A gruff voice finished, closing the book with a satisfied sigh. Yet the owner's demeanor instantly changed at the sight of the sleeping girl before him. _

_Raising a hairy eyebrow, he stood from the floor on his short, fat legs. He walked over to the floor table and wasted no time in dropping the heavy book on its top. The blond head shot up like a rocket and groggy eyes looked all over her enormous room in search of the commotion that awoke her from such a peaceful slumber. Her eyes landed on the rocky figure that was standing right before her with an expression of disapproval. They widened comically and she began to stutter. _

"_Oh…Erasto…I, um, I only dozed off for a second." She said sheepishly, rubbing the reddened skin of her brow. _

"_For only a second you say? Then how about you tell me what I was saying __two__ seconds ago?" The troll asked crossing his arms over his rocky chest while looking at her expectantly._

_The blond girl opened and closed her mouth a few times, before deciding to just risk it. Who knows, she might actually get it right by saying the last thing she remembered. _

"_Ah…you were talking about the importance of hygiene within the kingdom's premises, which by the way, I find quite ironic coming from the mouth of a mountain troll." She said very quickly. _

"_I will ignore that insult for the well use of the word ironic, but you are still wrong your majesty." He stated. "Tell me Elsa, how do you plan to solve the country's present problems without the knowledge of its past?" _

_The little princess deflated. "Why don't we just let Carlos do it? He __is__ in charge after all." _

_The troll sat down on the floor again, resting his elbows on the table."Princess Elsa." He called, and waited until the girl's blue eyes settled on his. "I've put that man to sleep not to be a burden to you, but because you need the experience of managing your Kingdom. It is a shame that the King had to part from us so fast. Such a departure gave you no time to learn at a slower pace. But the truth remains, that this kingdom won't be yours one day, because it is yours __now__. Carlos is nothing but a face, your father meant for __you__ to rule, do you understand?"_

_At the tender age of ten it was hard to comprehend anything that wasn't related to her favorite toys and her most loved books. Yet she nodded, because if nothing else the kingdom was not only the last thing she had from her parents but also the greatest gift her father had given her, and she would treasure it as such. Besides, her little sister was out there, and she depended on her. _

"_Very well then." Erasto said, standing with a grunt. "Reread what sleep didn't allow you to hear and think about how you would repair the damage the last storm did to your country's crops. Tomorrow we'll discuss it and I'll ease your decision into your guardians' mind, is that alright?" _

"_Okay." She replied staring down. _

_The troll's stern posture lessened at little Elsa's sagging shoulders. He walked around the table and caressed her head before leaving the book atop the table, opened to the page she had to study. "Don't be too hard on yourself my child. You are doing well." _

_The princess smiled softly at the encouragement and watched as Erasto, the Elder troll, touched the forehead of Carlos, the current regent of Arendelle, before hastily jumping out the window. The floor trembled as Erasto touched the ground and Elsa giggled when Carlos fell, face-first, from the sofa to the floor. _

_He stood startled, wondering what was going on and looking around for something that even he wasn't sure what it was. His black eyes settled on Elsa, who began to read her book in an effort to hide her grin. Carlos fixed his hair and stroked his thin mustache as he sat on the sofa once again. Staring at nothing, he pondered on his sanity. _

So yes, Elsa was overly used to the enormous amount of work she had on a daily basis. If nothing else, so many years of experience had taught her how to hasten the process by organizing and prioritizing. What the queen wasn't used to however, was the random appearance of her little sister in her office during labor hours. Although, she probably would have noticed Anna's not really discreet entrance had the queen not been staring off into space.

"Elsa!" The papers flew out of the queen's hands.

"Anna! Don't scare me like that!" She held onto her heart; then moved to retrieve the papers that scattered around her desk.

Anna kneeled to pick up some that had fallen to the floor on her side. She extender her arm to her sister and grinned at the slight glare she received from the queen.

Elsa took the documents from her, and raising a rather fine eyebrow asked, "What do you need?"

"You, my dearest sister." Anna replied, opening her arms with a flourish. "I've come to save you from the claws of your horrid fate – ", she gestured to the parchment full desk. " by inviting you to visit the plaza with me!" She finished, holding her hands behind her back and smiling widely. Evidently, the princess felt very accomplished with herself.

Elsa took a second to take it all in, and then said, "I can't."

"What? Why?" Anna whined, going so far as to slump her shoulders.

"Because I have much work to do Anna. Can't you see?" The queen replied, moving to retake her previous work, or at least to make it look like she was retaking her previous work. It meant nothing to her sister though, who rounded the table and latched onto her arm preventing her from writing anything at all.

"You were not even working when I got here!" Anna countered, pushing and pulling on her sister's arm.

"Of course I was! In here." Elsa tapped her forehead. The action made Anna stop jerking on the queen's limb for a second in which she bestowed upon her an unbelieving stare.

"You are lying."

"Am not." The queen shook her head, retaking control of her arm.

"It's not true." Anna argued.

"It is." The blond shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"Elsa!"

"Anna!"

"Oh Please! Don't be this way!" Anna knelt by the side of the queen's chair holding onto the armrest with both hands. Maybe if she looked pitiful enough her sister would accept. "We haven't spent time together since the ball." She added a pathetic tone to her tactic.

Elsa was inclined to deny her, because she truly had a lot of work to do, but then she dared to look down into her sister's light blue eyes and her resolve melted down completely. She rolled her eyes at herself, wondering, _'who could say no to those beautiful blue orbs?'_

"Fine. But only for a short while." The queen reluctantly acquiesced.

"Awesome!" Anna pulled her arm once more. This time with strength that lifted her whole body out of the room.

To say that Elsa had gone to the towns square against her will, and therefore was not enjoying herself one bit, would have been the biggest lie ever uttered in the history of Arendelle. Even the race down the castle's stairs and across the bridge that united the manor's premises with the rest of her kingdom had been a recently regained thrill that she welcomed greatly. It was almost like being six and nine year olds again; so freeing, so joyous, so very mischievous of them.

Elsa could barely contain her excitement as they walked around the streets. Truth be told, even though the doors had not been closed since a year ago, royal obligations had not left her with much time to explore her kingdom. Ergo, this expedition could certainly count as her first contact with the outside world. And just like a child, her eyes feasted on all there was to see.

Vertical and horizontal soil rows allowed the people to appreciate the square sections where different stands were raised. On each side of the streets, all kinds of shops were available. Some sold clothes of vibrant colors, others had exotic objects. There was a quantity of shops that had the most curious relics Elsa had ever seen, as well as urns, threads, rugs, even jewelry. Then there were those that sold food, from fruits to vegetables and meats, cooked or uncooked, national or international. If you could name it, Elsa didn't doubt they would have it.

The queen marveled at the prosperity of her Kingdom. She could not have been more relieved to know her dismissal of Weselton had no repercussions on the economies of her country. From what she could see by the imported cheese she was currently tasting the expulsion of such relations only left more space for new and more profitable business partners.

"Do you like it your majesty?" The owner of the stand asked. He was as thin as his white beard was long, and he looked at her with wide eyes. The queen could tell he was eager to please.

"Yes, it has a rather strong taste, and that's exactly how I like my cheese." She chuckled sweetly.

The man smiled widely at her response, as if the queen had just made his day, and hurried over his stand in search of something. Elsa was not kept in the dark for long. With much effort by the old man, an enormous ball of cheese was loaded onto the table; uncaring of the squashing of the rest of his merchandise.

"Then please your majesty, take this one! I bought it from the island of East just yesterday. It's the best they had. Therefore, the best I have." He insisted.

Elsa's eyes bulged at the mere size of the thing. How in the world would she carry it around? But, moreover, how could she not buy something from this gentle soul?

She finished chewing on the piece of cheese she still had on her mouth before answering. "Well…how much is it?"

"Oh no! It's free my queen. A gift!" He said, bowing for her.

"No, I could never accept that. This is not charity my good sir." She replied kindly. "Now tell me, how much would you charge anyone else?"

"But my queen…" He tried to object.

"Don't be stubborn now." She smiled softly, urging him to answer.

"F-four corsos your majesty."

"Alright." Elsa rummaged into her small purse and took out seven small silver coins. "Have seven, for being so kind." She smiled, placing the money on the table. Her tremulous eyes then rested on the large ball, still wondering how she would carry that around.

"Thank you so much your majesty." The old man bowed once more. "Oh! Here, let me help you with this!"

The sir moved to the back of the tent and came back with a small cart. The queen saw him drop the cheese onto it, before driving it to her side. '_Oh thank goodness'_, Elsa thought. She smiled politely once more, and thanked the man.

Timely, her sister appeared beside her in that precise moment. Elsa pulled back as Anna practically shoved a toothpick into her face. It held some type of food that she could not recognize.

"What is that?"

"A horrible fruit from the East Islands." She had the most repulsed expression Elsa had seen in a while; it was hilarious to her. "Eat it!" Anna pushed the fruit farther onto her lips.

The queen seriously doubted the fruit to be as horrid as her dramatic sister had exclaimed. So with a roll of her eyes she opened her mouth to consume it before her sister could vomit in front of everyone.

Elsa raised an eyebrow. "It's just sour."

"It's disgusting."

"Of course." Elsa accepted sarcastically.

"Yes, now come! I want to show you the cutest kitty ever!" Anna exclaimed, dragging her sister to another stand further up ahead.

"Wait! My cheese!" The blond tried to object, but her sister was not listening. Thankfully, the old man was, and he kindly shouted to her that he would send it to the castle. Elsa thanked him again, and allowed herself to be hauled forward.

They stopped at a rather suspicious looking stand, but that was all the judgment Elsa would do until the man would have spoken. The merchant was a rather oversized man, with too much hair on his chest and too little on his head. What surprised Elsa however was that he seemed to think he made up for his lack of hair with brain matter.

"Oh! Princess, queen. What a pleasure." Elsa nodded politely. "I was just showing the princess here this exotic domestic cat." He said, patting the cage the small cub was in.

The queen looked into the enclosure to find what at first glance seemed to be a young offspring of a house cat. Yet, the queen knew better, she had not spent countless hours reading for nothing. The supposed cat was certainly beautiful, with puffy golden hair and countless black spots. It had piercing blue eyes and a straight tail; it kept moving from one side of the small cage to the other, clearly anxious. And although it was very cute, it was very much not what the merchant stated it was; which would mean, he was lying to her; to the queen.

"Isn't it cute Elsa?" Anna asked, her eyes fixed on the kitty.

"Yes, it is." The queen said to her sister. Her eyes then turned to the lying man before her. "It is also exotic, but not domestic."

Anna stood from her crouched position to look at her sister. She noticed the seriousness of her expression and realized Elsa had gone completely into Queen Mode. She bit her lip and looked at the salesman. She was not sure what he had done, but she was certain that things were about to get ugly for him; her sister was rarely mistaken in these affairs.

"What do you mean my queen?" The man asked, a slight tremor in his voice.

"Exactly what I'm saying. This is a wildcat, from Africa where it's legal to sell, unlike here were it is not."

Having been found out the man bowed, stuttering, "I-I did not know your Majesty."

"I don't care. Pack your things and leave. I don't want to see you here when I come around." She turned to her sister. "Anna, take the cat." She added. And she knew he probably had other illegal animals with him, but at least he wouldn't profit from this one within her territory.

Anna moved to take the cage and the man almost protested, but cold eyes held him in place leaving him with no choice but to accept his punishment.

As the queen and princess walked away, Anna could not help herself from whispering, "Are we keeping him?"

Elsa chuckled. "No Anna, the law states that those kinds of animals don't belong here."

"You are the law." Anna tested, smirking.

"Exactly! So we are returning it." The queen declared, and Anna swelled with pride. "Come, I'll buy you something.", she added.

"Really?" Anna beamed at the prospect.

A gentle smile graced the queen's features as she brushed one of her sister's pigtails to the side. "How about some pretty earrings? Considering your ears are always on display?" She teased, rubbing Anna's left ear.

The princess blushed and nodded. Earrings would be a great gift she coincided. Firstly, because although they were royalty, they rarely basked in jewels; a tendency inherited from their mother who found them tacky and not at all suitable for those who had to be the model of refinement. Secondly, and most importantly, because she would be able to always carry with her something that would remind her of her sister; though she had never needed an object to think about her daily.

Elsa made Anna see all the jewelry tents before deciding to which she wanted to return. She claimed it was the best way for Anna to make good judgment of the products she was seeing without leaving anything out. The redhead could understand the logic behind that, but that didn't prevent her from whining after the fifth shop. At the end, they returned to the first tend they had seen, the one where the princess had initially pointed out the earrings she had loved at first glance. It belonged to a middle aged woman with gypsy looks. The woman conversed with Anna as she packed her gift. In the meantime, Elsa looked around the plaza contently; even though she knew she had much work, she hoped they could return soon.

Her mind was submerged within those musings, when suddenly she noticed a strange, violent kind of ruffling among the plaza. From down the street, yelling could be heard. Elsa moved to the center of the road, hoping to see what the commotion was all about. Three children, the first one smaller than the last one, were running away from a large man that kept shouting at them to stop. She could see the tallest boy gesturing to the others to run faster as she tried to prevent the apples in his arms from falling.

The queen had an idea of what was going on. Yet, she made no movement to get out of their way as they ran in her direction, nor did she make an effort to stop them. She had a mixture of feelings and thoughts. She knew what she had to do, as the queen, as the law, but she couldn't bring herself to do it to children wearing such rags.

The first two children, whose hands were too small to carry anything, sprinted past her. But the last boy's foot caught on a bump on the road and he fell before her feet. The apples spread on the ground and he moved quickly to fetch them. He had recovered three of them when he noticed the red fabric of her dress. Slowly he looked up and at the sight of the queen, his mouth clamped shut, his eyes widened and his breath labored.

He was frightened. The queen could tell, everyone could, and as she gazed around the plaza she realized he was not the only one. In her engrossment with herself, her sister and their excursion, she had failed to see the fear that still resided in the eyes of half of her subjects. How could she have missed that? How could she have thought her people would forget the misery she inflicted upon them barely a year ago?

Elsa returned her gaze to the boy as he threw two apples to the children that were still standing behind her. He yelled at them to run, and they obeyed, albeit reluctantly. Then, surprising everyone and stabbing the queen's heart even more, he stood and lifted two fists to his face. There was fear in his trembling body, but there was also rage in his face that the queen could not comprehend. It was like he had a personal bone to pick with her, and Elsa could only wonder what she could have done to him, personally. Still, she raised an eyebrow at him in defiance.

The offended merchant reached them finally. At the sight of the queen, he stuttered an apology and moved to grab the boy by the collar of his torn shirt, but he was halted by the raising hand of the queen.

She stared at the boy for a second longer, trying to decipher him before simply saying, "Go."

The boy was surprised enough to lower his arms. He stood there, looking at her with suspicious curiosity.

At the same time, the robust storekeeper opened his mouth to protest. He didn't get very far.

"Silence!" Elsa said to him. Returning her gaze to the boy she repeated herself one more time. "I told you to leave."

The boy gasped, but didn't wait for a third command. He picked two more apples and ran away as fast as he could. Elsa watched him until he was lost in the distance. She turned to the merchant soon after.

"Where does he live?"

"After the river, your majesty. They keep coming over to steal." The merchant replied. She nodded and proceeded to appease him by paying for the apples the boy had stolen.

"Let's go Anna." Elsa said, begging to walk back to the castle. Anna was quick to follow.

Knocks on Anna's door were few and far in between, even during the last year. Yet somehow she knew she would hear some that night; she was not disappointed.

When the moon was high on the blue sky, three taps resounded into the room. Anna sat on her bed and called for the visitor to enter. Shortly after, Elsa came in. The queen made her way to her sister's bed and sat beside her. Her downcast eyes seemed to be looking for the meaning of life on top of Anna's fuchsia blankets, and the princess tried her best to wait patiently. She had not to wait long, since Elsa was close to exploding with inquiries.

"Anna." Elsa began, her fingers now playing with the fur of the sheets.

"What?"

"What lies beyond the river… it belongs to us as well, correct?"

"I think so yes." Anna nodded. She was pretty certain of that fact.

"Do you know how it is over there?" Elsa asked, her frown beginning to deepen with an uneasiness that let her know there was more to today's event. If only she could know what.

"No, I don't." Anna regretted to say. She gazed at her sister's pale profile as the wind began to pick. Worry lines had created on her forehead since that afternoon and her eyes were red around the edges. It was easy to see that the queen had been crying for quite a while. It tugged at Anna's heart to see her sister in so much pain again.

But unlike before, this time she could reach out to her. Anna took her sister in her arms and, laying back, rested her upon her chest. Elsa went willingly. She fastened herself to Anna's waist and let the tears drop onto the thumb that caressed her cheek.

"They fear me Anna." She sobbed.

"Only some of them Elsa, and barely." She brushed a freezing arm.

"That's more than enough." To the queen, one fearful subject, especially a child, was enough to prove her a failure, mostly because her father had never ruled with fear.

"Just give them time. It's only been little more than a year. Soon they will all see what a kind and softy queen you are!" Elsa said, hoping to lift her sisters' spirits.

Elsa let out a small chuckle at her sister phrasing, and buried herself deeper into the sweet strawberry smell of her sister's skin.

"Why don't we take another field trip and jump a river?" The redhead added.

Elsa made an agreeable sound within her throat as she slowly began to fall into dreamland.

The temperature of the room returned to normal, and Anna vowed to help her sister with their new dilemma. After all, she had promised her that she would never leave her and that they would solve their problems together.


	3. The Frightening Ice Witch

**Author's Notes: In this occasion, I would like to know if you find the story too slow, and if so, in what aspect. Aside from that I hope that you enjoy it and take the time to leave me a review, even if it's just to tell me you like it or hate it. They are both very appreciated. **

**I just finished this and haven't verified it enough, so please excuse any error you may find. **

_Chapter 3: The Frightening Ice Witch_

The queen and princess of Arendelle were out on a mission. Well, technically they weren't out yet, since the kitchen obviously counted as part of the interior of the castle. They were going to leave soon though, right after they packed a few things for their expedition. A few being a rather important part of that sentence, one that Anna doubted her sister had understood.

The young redhead watched as her sister opened a bag that was clearly too big for her small shoulders and began to stuff it with an amount of things that were utterly unnecessary in Anna's opinion. In went three changes of clothes, a hat, rope and blankets and four water bottles, a top which sandwiches and marmalade were placed. But that wasn't enough, so the blond opened the side pockets to put in money, a rope, a hammer with nails, bandages, a hair tie and even a spork; Anna could not fathom any kind of circumstance in which they would be in need of a spork out in the wilderness.

The princess continued to stare at her sister who kept adding the items that rested on top of the kitchen's wooden counter, her facial expression one of focused determination. Anna chuckled inwardly, remembering when she had gone on her first excursion:

"_Alright Joan, I think I got everything I need!" Anna said to the painting above the large green sofa. She grunted as she lifted a fat backpack from the floor and tossed it over her wispy shoulders; instantly they slouched and her knees buckled. Still, she made an effort to look up at silent Joan with a huge grin. "Wouldn't you agree?"_

'_She would if she could speak', Anna thought cheerfully. _

_The princess rubbed her feet against the carpet on her way to reach the door. Almost losing her balance, she kicked it three times, and waited. No one opened it and no footsteps or mumbling could be heard, which meant that no one was on the hallway. She struggled to open the door and exit the room. And then, believing she was a ninja from one of the tales her father told her, she glued herself to the walls, face first since it made it easier to creep around, and kept on struggling to exit the castle. Once she reached the patio, to prevent herself from being seen by the absent gardener, she threw herself to the ground. Flat on her stomach and with a grimace because she had thrown herself a bit too hard, she crawled between the bushes and the roses, until she reached a particular tall tree. _

_The tree was quite robust, strong enough to hold the 72 pounds of the eleven year old princess. It was planted parallel to the castles walls, and had a branch that lead directly to her sister's room on the second floor: her destination. Wasting no time, Anna gave a quick look to her surroundings before grasping the tree's bark to climb it. She had barely taken two steps before falling on her back with a clank._

"_Ugh...maybe I did not need the kettles." In retrospect adding that had been quite absurd. She did not even remember in which of all her fantasies those had come in handy._

_She tried to stand, but like a turtle that's been pushed backwards she could only hobble from side to side. Until she remembered that unlike the turtles, she had thumbs! Which she briskly used to free her arms from the straps of the bag; chuckling at her mental lapse. _

"_This is not going to work. I'll have to get rid of some things." She said with much regret; it had taken a lot of work to ensemble that backpack. _

_She began to take out all that she considered might have been extraneous. In the end, she only kept two things, a rope and a gift. Stuffing the items in the now deflated bag, she renewed her ascension. It was much easier this time, and she made it to the top promptly. She looked through the window in search of her sister, but the crystal was misty. Considering she could not even see if her sister was inside or not, and therefore was unable to ask for permission to enter the room, Anna wondered if she should abort her mission. But after such a long journey, and the peril! – She could fall off that tree at any moment! – The princess decided to risk it, and with much caution she pushed the window open. _

_Anna noticed the cold atmosphere at once, since it contrasted greatly with the summer heat outside. Yet she gave it no mind when her eyes landed on the resting figure of her older sister. Tentatively, she neared the bed. _

_Young Elsa lay on her back, the blankets covering only up to her waist and her arms were stretched outwards; her left hand holding a hardcover green book. _

'_She is so pretty'. Anna could not help but whisper. Resting her palms on the edge of the bed, she neared, wishing to see her better. Elsa was thin and long, fitting of an adolescent girl; after all, she was fourteen now. But Anna could still see some freckles upon her pale cheeks, fewer and lighter, but still so similar to her own. It made her heart flutter to know they shared something so visible. A sign of belonging imprinted on their skin. _

_This was her sister, inexplicably distant and cold at the moment, but hers. The eleven year old could not help herself from appreciating her in the same manner she showed her gratefulness to all she marveled. She leaned forward and pressed her pink lips to the ones of her sleeping sister in the most innocent of kisses. It lasted but for a moment, until she realized the inappropriateness of what she had done; kissing was alright to do to a flower or a puppy or even Joan, but surely not to her sister. _

_So she bolted, and almost threw herself off the window, but stopped remembering why she had come to her sister's room in the first place. She turned around with a furiously red face. Her sister was unmoving; she had not noticed a thing. _

'_Good' Anna exhaled in relief, nearing the bed once again. She took her backpack off her shoulders and rested it on the floor while she searched for something within. _

_She retrieved a small plush toy in the form of a snowman; the castles seamstress had showed her how to do one at her incessant request. It was an exact replica of the one she had drawn for her sister when she was smaller. _

_Anna kissed the plush toy before placing it on one of the light blue pillows beside her sister's head. Her sister would see it as soon as she woke up. Anna hoped Elsa would like it._

"_Happy birthday Elsa" She smiled before picking up her backpack and leaving the room through the window. _

Anna blushed at the memory. To think her sister had been her first kiss, and even worst, that she had stolen Elsa's without her knowledge! Sheesh, the embarrassing things one did as a kid. She really hoped Elsa never found out.

Anna had been lost within those thoughts when she felt her arm been jerked.

"Anna! Where are you?" Elsa raised an eyebrow. Her sister was such a space cadet sometimes...alright most of the time. It was cute, but quite unproductive right now.

"Ah…" Anna started, blinking away her stupor. "Right here!"

"Right." Elsa replied, incredulous but opting to not pry this time. "Anyway, I'm done, are you?"

"Yeah…uh…no, I mean, I am, but you are not." The princess got out shaking her head at the bulging bag of her sister.

Elsa stared down at the sack before her. Okay, so it might be a little hard to carry. She looked back across the counter to her sister. "You…want me to leave the spork?"

Anna couldn't help but laugh. She shook her head and moved to stand beside the queen, opening the bag to start taking things out.

"Yes, but also this, and this and definitely this! Elsa what ever made you pack a bag within a bag?" She asked, giving it back to her sister to put away.

Elsa took it, folding it as she murmured, "What if that one breaks?"

Anna continued to laugh. She couldn't believe her sister's conviction in her extravagant ways. "If that happens we take what we can carry in our arms, and fast because who knows what will be attacking us. But for now, when packing for this kind of expedition, you take only what's essential."

"All of those things are essential." Elsa refuted.

"No, they aren't" Anna countered, smirking as she continued to retrieve useless thing after useless thing.

Elsa crossed her arms and looked away, pouting slightly. It was so unbecoming of the queen and so utterly adorable to Anna that she could not help herself from hugging the older woman. Elsa tried to hold onto her upset demeanor, but it was futile with such a warm body against her. She gave in, hugging her sister back fiercely.

"Oh! Is this a hug fest?" The sisters felt more than heard something that attached itself to their knees. Looking down they saw Olaf, and with him was Kristoff.

"Hey Olaf!" Anna knelt down to hug him as well. "And Kristoff." She waved at him.

"Hey Anna." He waved back at her before bowing to the queen. "Your majesty."

Elsa nodded and smiled politely at his courtesy. His title as her sister's boyfriend had allowed them ample time to get to know each other, especially since Anna rarely left her side. She thought him a good man. Not enough for her sister of course, but then, no one was. Still, she could do nothing but accept him after all the help he had been to them and the kingdom.

"I came to see if you wanted to spend the day with me Anna, although you seem a bit busy right now." The official Ice Deliverer of Arendelle said as he looked around the room. He could tell the sisters had been preparing for something by the mess on the counter.

"Oh, I'm sorry, but I already have plans with Elsa." She stood and pointed to the queen with her thumb.

"We could leave it for another day Anna, if you wish to go out with Kristoff." Elsa regretted to have to say, but said nonetheless.

At her sister's words Anna almost shouted, "No! I mean, no, this is important." She insisted.

Kristoff wondered what could be so important that she wouldn't want to spend time with her boyfriend. He thought best to ask before getting upset. "What's so important?"

"Ah…" Anna searched her mind for what to say. She was not sure if her sister wanted anyone to now about their little trip.

In truth, Elsa didn't, but it seemed like they had been cornered. Now, she could say the truth or lie, but it was such a silly thing to lie for. Also, the queen thought the fella was nice enough to offer to accompany them. And in all honesty, they could use his help considering the only path she knew in those woods lead to her ice castle.

"We are going to take a little field trip to the other side of the river." Elsa explained.

Kristoff looked at them, confused. "What for?"

"There's something I need to see." She replied simply.

Kristoff could sense the severity of the situation. He did not know what could be so important on the other side of the river that would required the queen to travel herself, but if there was something he had learn during his time with Anna was that stubbornness ran in the family. Therefore, he did not try to change their minds, saving his efforts for battles that he could actually win; he was a smart man. In its place, he offered precisely what the queen was hoping for.

"Why don't I go with you then? For security – not that you can't take care of yourself!" He added quickly, not wishing to insult the ice queen or the princess. Although by Anna's upturn mouth he knew it to be too late with her. "But I mean, I know the woods, so I can make sure you don't get lost!"

'_The gall of him' _Anna thought. _'As if I didn't know my way through the woods', _she opened her mouth to tell him as much, to set him straight on her ability to take care of herself and her sister, but the queen beat her to it. Except, the queen's words were not accord to the princess's internal fuming.

"That would be greatly appreciated Kristoff." Elsa accepted. She knew what they were about to do was risky and inappropriate for the queen, so she wanted to prevent as many mishaps as possible.

The queen kept on smiling gently at the new addition to their group until she felt a slight pressure on the side of her head. When she turned to see what is was, she found her sister frowning at her with a curious glare.

Baffled, the queen asked. "What? You don't think so?"

Anna shook her head, noting her emotions were showing on her face. She looked from Kristoff to Elsa and back again, smiling at the blond man. "No, I think it's great! Welcome aboard Kristoff!" She exclaimed, overly enthusiastic.

"You hesitated." Olaf interjected.

"No I didn't!" Anna countered, sending a glare the poor snowman's way. Olaf decided it was better to stay silent for the rest of the day.

Really, it was not her boyfriend Anna had a problem with. Actually, she was not even certain as to why she had been invaded by such feelings, such jealousy. And the oddest thing was that she was not jealous that Kristoff was spending time with her beautiful sister, but that Elsa spending and sharing Anna's time with Kristoff; even if she was present as well. It was utterly selfish of her she knew, but what could she do? Her desire to have all of her sister's undivided attention was as strong as it was unrelenting.

"Alright then, look for me outside once you are ready. Come on Olaf!" Kristoff turned to leave.

"Wait! We are ready!" Anna replied.

Kristoff scrutinized them, or more specifically, their attire. "You plan to go to the woods like that?" He pointed to their dresses.

Elsa looked down at her herself, wondering what was wrong with her peach colored dress and flats. Yes, she would agree that the color did not suit her very well, but it was oh so very comfortable.

Anna for her part rested a hand on a cocked hip. She remembered vividly the last time she had gone into the wilderness on a dress. It had worked relatively well, in her opinion.

Kristoff noticed Elsa's perplexed expression and Anna's quite irritated face, and decided to explain. "It could be a long journey and who knows what we might encounter out there, a dress might not be very…practical."

"I see." The queen said.

Elsa searched her mind for what else she could wear. Her closet was full of dresses, as it was not only the fashion but the general rule for women's attire. Unless she used…well, she couldn't remember the last time she wore those but, desperate times call for desperate measures…

"I can't believe you made my sister wear pants." Anna grumped, her arms crossed over her chest as she and Kristoff waited for the queen at the end of the stairs.

"I didn't make her, I suggested it, and you are wearing some too!" The blond man defended. He really couldn't understand what the big deal was. He was sure a lot of women would be wearing pants if they could.

"I can't believe you made the queen wear pants! And I'm wearing mine under the dress. They are more like, undergarments!" She huffed. Seriously, how could he not understand the scandal this could create? Moreover, she had never seen her sister wear pants, not in childhood and not in the last year or so that they had been reunited. She would surely be very uncomfortable, in which case, Anna would be quick to assure her that she need not acquiesce to Kristoff's idiotic suggestions.

It took her a while to recall that she was supposed to be quick in putting her sister at ease about her attire, when the queen reached them on the first floor. She was wearing some black pants and a sleeveless light blue blouse with buttons up the front. Yet even common clothes could not take away the regal air that surrounded her. They could, however, accentuate certain aspects of her sister's body. She had known the queen had always had a rather curvaceous waist, much more than her own, but her…well her…Anna swallowed, she could barely even think it. Her rump! There! Had her sister's rump always been so…plump? That often used cape had surely deceived her.

Anna thought it best to stop staring at her sisters lower half soon. So slowly, she lifted her gaze to her sister's face, who was staring at her expectantly.

"Uh…how do they feel?" She asked, hoping her sister had not read the open book of her mind on her face.

"Well, they are a bit constricting, yet also very freeing. It's very odd." Elsa said, pulling the pants around her thighs.

"I wish I could wear pants, but my feet are too teeny whiney." Olaf spoke in the voice he reserved for tiny cute things. Elsa chuckled.

"You'll get used to them. I'm sure by tonight you won't want to take them off." Kristoff grinned.

'_I wouldn't mind helping her… wait what?' _Anna shook her head. What the hell had she just thought? Yes, she just cursed, it merited it. She frowned and exhaled, hoping all of those strange thoughts left with her expelled air.

"How about we leave already?" The princess said, mostly to Kristoff who right now she was mentally blaming not only for their delay but also for her bizarre thought process.

"Yes, we should leave before the servants awake. Let's get the bags and the map Anna." Elsa said, moving towards the doors that lead to the kitchen.

"Just the bags." Kristoff said casually.

Elsa stared at him while Anna raised an eyebrow. "Kristoff…" The princess started, but was quickly cut off by her boyfriend.

"No really girls. Trust me. I know these woods like the palm of my hand. So just bring the bags, forget the map, and let's get out of here." He turned to walk out of the castle. "Let's go Olaf!"

"Sure! But I'm stopping at Sven's. We are having carrot tea this morning!" The small snowman said.

Elsa looked to Anna for some advice, but Anna could only shrug.

The early bird catches the worm, or so the saying goes. In this case, the early birds managed to achieve invisibility as they made their way through a sleeping plaza, countless house and up to the river that succeeded them.

Luckily, they didn't have to swim across it since there was a bridge for traversing the fairly wide river. However, it was quite run down. The ropes had many loose strings and it was missing a few wood planks. The trio stood before what was supposed to be a bridge and stared at it.

"What now?" Anna asked out loud.

"Well…" Kristoff turned to look at Elsa.

The queen waited for him to continue, but he didn't. When Kristoff noticed she didn't seem to be getting it, he motioned to the bridge with his hand. Elsa cocked her head to the side still not understanding what he meant, but then it came to her.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, raising her arms towards the bridge. Soon after, a snowdrift left her palms. The ice tangled itself with the ropes giving the bridge stability and creating ice planks where the wooden boards had fallen. She added a few decorative snowflakes to the design, because well, the Ice queen could not do anything if it wasn't done beautifully.

"Well done. Also, pretty." Kristoff smirked. Elsa chuckled, knowing full well that he was making fun of her.

They moved to cross the ice bridge, Kristoff at the front, and Anna behind him attached to her sister's arm.

Kristoff loved winter, there were countless of reasons for that besides the fact that he was an Ice deliverer. In comparison, Kristoff hated summer. To him, the only good thing about it was the good business he could make, everything else, sucked; seriously. And being in the woods only magnified his dislike. The sticky humidity, the annoying flies, the evil flora he was certain wanted to either poison him or/and trip him, everything was eternally hated by him.

He had thought that having a sister that could pretty much control winter would mean Anna felt similarly in this regard. He was wrong. Anna couldn't have been more excited with all the aforementioned vexations had she been born in the forest. The redhead jumped from one root to another, climbing rocks and jabbing at random holes on the earth or in the trees as her sister fretted over her.

"Anna, be careful…and get down from there!", "Anna drop it, you don't even know what it is", "Anna, don't stay back there, you are going to get lost", "Anna wait for us!" Elsa found herself saying every few minutes. Anna was slightly annoyed at her sisters incessant worrying, but not enough to not feel elated by the love behind it.

Of course, Kristoff shouldn't have thought that actually being the Ice Queen meant that Elsa hated the summer either. Because for all her concern over Anna's wellbeing, she followed in her sisters excited footsteps, probing every hole and poking every seemingly defenseless animal that the princess hurried to show her; up until she thought Anna could get hurt by any of it that is.

Currently, the sisters were crouched before a colorful frog trying to feed it a frozen fly.

Kristoff exhaled the stress that seemed to be lodging on his neck. "Girls, please stop feeding the shiny frog, it's venomous."

The sisters stepped away from the frog immediately. Elsa blushed at their foolishness, while Anna giggled awkwardly, dropping the fly. Kristoff rolled his eyes at them before retaking his pace.

The queen had to admit that she was quite impressed. Even though she knew not where they were after hours of walking, Kristoff seemed to know exactly where he was going, or where he was standing at the least. Quite possibly because of her full trust in his abilities, she failed to notice at once that the greenery was becoming scarce.

The trees lost width and the grass lost height as they reached an opening in the forest. A path of dry dirt led to the entrance of what appeared to be a small village. It had a delimiting wooden fence that was so raptured that it could hardly keep any wild animals out. Parallel to this fence the village accommodated a variety of small houses with walls made out of thin lumber and ceilings made out of hay. There was a well right in the middle of the miniscule village around which domestic animals and people sauntered.

The queen could not believe this rundown village was supposed to be part of her kingdom. Least could she understand how the resources she sent throughout her land biannually were not reaching this community.

Elsa's feet picked up the pace as they approached the wooden fence, footsteps of her companions hurrying behind her. She saw children close to the entrance playing with an old ball, and she hoped they – or anyone really – could explain what was going on. Yet, as they noticed her nearing them their expressions changed. The tallest of them, a skinny girl with dark brown hair gasped, and forgetting the ball they had been playing with, grabbed on to the arms of her two younger friends and ran away from the queen.

As she went, Elsa could hear her screaming, "The Ice Witch! It's the Ice Witch!"

Elsa halted in that instant, even with the collision of her sister's body with her back, the queen did not move. She could not. The girl's frightened yell had rooted her to the spot and she could barely hear her own breathing. She saw, more than listened, the harsh shutting of doors and windows, the hurried retrieving of children and the emptying of roads from screaming villagers.

"What's going on?" Anna asked to her left as she too looked about perplexed by the whole situation.

"I really don't know." Kristoff answered. He frowned, trying to make heads out of tails, but before he could even try to approach anyone for an explanation the sound of urgent footsteps thundered through the ground.

The trio watched as a group of eight men placed themselves before them. They held swords and clubs and even torches, clearly ready to fight. Alarmed, Elsa stood quickly before her sister, shielding her from the hostile men. Anna gulped and seized her sister's arm while Kristoff took a step forward. The men rapidly pointed their weapons at him.

Kristoff lifted his arms in defense before speaking. "Do you not know who you have before you?" He shouted.

"We do." Came a voice from within the mob. The men parted to expose a rather old man. The wrinkles around his eyes only deepened with his scowl. "The Ice Witch."

"This is your queen!" Kristoff replied, lowering his arms.

"Same difference." The old man, clearly the leader of the village, said.

Against her sister's strong grasp, Elsa took a step forward. She stood tall and demanding, "What is the meaning of this?"

"Why don't you tell us?" The leader asked, taking another step closer to them. He ignored the worried whispers from his men, and stood glaring directly at the queen. "Have you come to chase us farther away? Or perhaps, to take what little we have left?"

Elsa was baffled, and her eyes said as much. Nonetheless, they would not believe in her innocence. Apparently, she had harmed them so, but when?

"What are you talking about? My sister has done nothing of the sort!" Anna shouted from her place behind the queen.

"No? Look around, does it look like I'm lying?" He gestured to the village.

He was not, but they already knew that. Yet, as they inspected their entourage more closely, the poverty seemed greater, the houses more disheveled and the people sadder. Elsa tried to swallow all the confusion and anguish that invaded her.

The lack of refute was enough answer for the elder. "Leave!" He demanded.

But when they didn't move, he felt the need to be a bit more forceful, "Now!" He shouted and his tone stirred his men into action.

They took a step forward with their weapons extended, forcing the trio to back away.

"It might be best if we did as they ask your highness. Since we are outnumbered and all." Kristoff advised, continuing to back way.

Elsa searched for her voice. "Y-yes." She stuttered, keeping her sister behind her as they reentered the woods.

The walk back to the castle had been silent. Anna and Kristoff had tried to talk about the offensive events that had just occurred, but Elsa had been lost in her own reflections. Even when they returned to the castle, the queen said nothing and heard nothing as she ran to the library.

"It's okay Anna, she just needs some time." Kristoff tried to console his girlfriend, but it was no use. Anna's eyes barely left the path her sister had taken when she turned to kiss his cheek good-bye; her thought's solely on her sister and her frustrations.

Kristoff sighed and left for the day; it was almost time for super anyway. In the meantime, Anna got busy with supper. It was not something she often did, considering they had chefs at all hours, but occasionally she liked to help out, mostly to learn and chat. That evening though, she spoke little and worked a lot. She wanted to make something nice to lift her sister's spirits.

As soon as she was done, she carried the tray to the library where she was sure her sister was still hiding. She entered the room to find her sister bent over one of the many books that lay on top of the desk. The queen had not noticed her yet, which told Anna of the amount of concentration the blond was putting into whatever she was working at. The princess placed the tray on the adjacent desk. She stood beside her sister then, and brushed her long bangs away from her face. Elsa gasped, finally noting her sister's presence.

"I brought you dinner." Anna said, continuing to caress her sister's hair.

"Oh, thanks, but I'm not hungry right now." Elsa replied.

"I know, but I made it myself. So would you please eat a bit?" Anna insisted.

Elsa sighed, feeling compelled to at least appease her sister who had gone to such trouble for her. "I'll have some later okay? I can't…swallow anything right now."

Anna nodded in comprehension. She looked over the books and papers on the desk. "Have you found anything?"

Elsa let out a quick breath. "Nothing! No deplorable ancestors, no orders done while I was sleepwalking, no papers signed by unauthorized traitors, nothing!" She threw the pen she had been holding onto the desk.

"Maybe…I don't know. Perhaps the rumors from last year have taken longer to dissipate over there." Anna suggested, but Elsa shook her head dubiously.

Having nothing else to propose for an answer to the dilemma at hand, Anna placed a golden lock behind her sister's ear and said, "Promise me you'll eat something and head to bed soon?"

Elsa nodded, but somehow Anna knew she would not keep that promise. Still, she allowed the white lie, believing everyone needed some time to bemoan that which wounded them. On account of that belief, she pressed her lips to the queen's forehead and exited the library.


	4. The Cared for and the Caretaker

**Author's notes: *sigh* I would have gotten this for yesterday, but I just had to sit and watch "Wolf Children" (an extremely bittersweet anime movie) and my mojo completely left me. I had to wait until late at night to write anything at all. Still, I hope the wait is worth it. What did we learn from this? Don't watch sad crap if you have a chapter due that day. Heed my advice youngsters! **

_Chapter 4: The Cared for and the Caretaker_

Anna yawned as she strolled through the halls of Arendelle's royal palace.

'_It's 10:30 in the morning! The nerve of them to wake me at such an ungodly_ hour', she thought with bitterness, _'And on a rainy Sunday!' _

For once she was glad that the doors and windows were being kept closed, because although it had yet to snow that winter, she was freezing. Arendelle had that thing about it, its geographical location in a fjord made for suffocating summers and frigid winters (not counting her sister's frosty outburst last summer).

Anna adjusted the cloak around her torso and hurried her pace. The hallways were the coldest part of the castle and she wanted to make it to her library at once.

Reaching the library she entered without knocking. She expected to see her sister at the same desk she had occupied for the last three weeks, curved over a myriad of fat books she had read and reread exhaustingly. Surprisingly though, she wasn't.

Anna thought the queen couldn't have gotten far, considering her renewed hermit-like ways. So the princess called out to her as she sauntered between the tall bookshelves.

Turning what seemed like the one-hundred corner, Anna found her sister sitting on the floor, her head pressed to the side of a ladder that was placed beside her, and a thick opened book on her outstretched legs. Initially worried for her sister's wellbeing the princess dashed to her, but as she kneeled Anna realized that the queen was only sleeping; albeit breathing somewhat arduously.

"Elsa." Anna tried to wake her, moving to shake the queen's shoulders softly. However, as her hand made the first contact with her sister's skin she recoiled immediately.

Her eyes widened and she gasped. Incredulously, she neared the queen's flesh again, this time with only two fingers to her arm. It was true, Elsa was burning! Anna moved the back of her hand to the queen's neck and then to her forehead. She stared astounded, how could this be? Her sister was the Ice Queen. She was practically ice with human life! Yet here she laid, her brow covered in a slight sweat and her body burning with a fever.

"Elsa." Anna tried to rouse her again. "Come Elsa. Let's get you to your room." Gently, she moved her sister's head away from the ladder to rest it on her shoulder.

"Ugh…I have to keep looking." Elsa tried to protest, making a weak effort to dislodge herself from the cushy body of who she thought was her sister; she would need to open her eyes to confirm that though.

Anna was having none of it. "No, you are sick. It's time to give it a rest."

Elsa's eyes finally opened…to bestow upon her sister a skeptical glare. "I don't get sick, Anna." She said obstinately.

Anna raised an amused eyebrow since the queen's watery eyes said otherwise. "You have a fever Elsa. You are trembling."

Elsa frowned, such a notion was impossible to the queen. She had never had a fever in her life. She held the power of ice for God's sake, for her to have a fever would be a contradiction of nature's law.

"It's just cold in here." She refuted.

For being so sharp in her diplomatic affairs it took her a second longer and an expectant look from her sister to realize the meaning of what she had just said. Cold? She was cold? The cold had never bothered her before!

"Let's just get you to your room." Anna said, chuckling softly. She pulled her sister to her feet and guided the drowsy queen out of the library.

By the time they reached the queen's quarters the blond had just about fallen asleep against her sister. Anna kicked the door close with a grunt, her sister's weight almost making her loose her balance. She heaved her onto the soft light blue sheets as gently as she could; considering the queen had been little to no help in that journey.

Anna watched as the trembling form of her sister curled into a fetal position; it was adorable, but mostly pitiful.

"No, wait Elsa. We have to get you changed." She pulled on the queen's arm to extricate her from such an unhelpful position. Elsa settled on her back with a groan, too far gone to give a proper response, or move any further.

The princess sighed; this was going to be a hassle. Still, she would not allow her sister to endure such an illness so uncomfortably. No way, she would free her from her constricting garments and place her below warm blankets. It was the least she could do after allowing her to mistreat herself for so long.

At least that was her intention, but then she began to unbutton the queen's dark blue blouse and her own hands began to tremble at the sight of unblemished pale skin. The view of a white lace brassier made her throat go dry, and she swallowed with difficulty when her thumbs brushed the soft skin of her sister's arms as she took the blouse off.

'_Why am I reacting this way?'_ She wondered internally, but no answer came to her or rather she didn't venture into obtaining one. Not at the moment, when her eyes were raking the swells of her sister's breast without her consent.

She shook her head and got to work on the queen's long skirt. A mistake, she would reason, if she could muster the capacity for any mental process. Because now her sister lay almost completely bare before her, short undergarments and a brassier the only things that censored her nudity.

Such beautifully sculpted long legs, such narrow waist, such….Anna felt like a creep, ogling her sister while she slept. She closed her eyes and exhaled, hoping to quench the strange sensation that was transpiring below her navel. When she opened her eyes, her sister's arm was bent at the elbow, holding her head while her chest rose and fell with each laborious breath she took.

Quickly turning on her heels, Anna left the room with a whimper. She had a better idea; she would search for a few maids that would do this for her.

When Anna returned to the queen's bedchambers a while later, the maidservants were tucking the sheets around a recently bathed and changed somnolent queen. Anna thanked them, and asked the last servant to leave to bring the physician. The servant girl closed the door with a bow, agreeing to call him immediately.

The princess made herself comfortable on the bed alongside her sister while she waited for the doctor to arrive. She stared at the dark circles below the queen's eyes and berated herself for allowing the blond to continue her clearly strenuous research for so long; she had only wanted to give her time and space to deal with her issues. The princess shook her head as she wiped the sweat off the blonde's brow. She had learned her lesson; clearly she couldn't be so easygoing when it came to her sister's health, on view that she could trust the queen to take care of the kingdom, but not to take care of herself.

"Anna…" mumbled the queen.

Anna looked at her curiously, wondering if she was awake or just sleep talking. Slowly, the queen opened her eyes. Squinting, she continued, "Take me to the library." She said, lifting a hand to clutch at her sister.

Anna shook her head. "No way, do you have any idea how hard it was to get you up here?" It had truly been a feat. "I called the doctor. He's coming to check on you." The princess informed her, taking the raised hand to rest it on her lap.

"But – " Elsa whined.

"No buts, I'm going to take care of you today. Now stay put." Anna ordered, nodding at herself.

Elsa sighed, settling back on her pillow. "You are going to take care of me?" Her smirk was full of pseudo-doubt.

Anna glared, "Are you implying – " She began to protest, but a knock at the door cut her off. "Forget it, the doctor's here and you are not getting out of that bed today. You'll see." She finished, standing to let the doctor in as her sister chuckled on the bed.

Yet, when she opened the door who she found on the other side was not the doctor at all, but a middle aged woman with dark brown hair and a gentle smile.

"Lisa, where's the doctor? I told you to get him." Anna said at the sight of the lone maid. She extended her neck to look behind Lisa and down both sides of the hallway, but the doctor was nowhere to be seen.

"I know, and I went to get him princess, but he was about to deliver a newborn." The woman explained.

"A newborn?" Anna asked as if she had never heard of such a thing.

"Yes, a new born, an infant, a baby." The maid explained further.

From behind her, Anna could hear Elsa cackling, surely at her. She frowned at the maid, her yes closing into slits. "I know what it is."

But it was such a rare look on the cheerful princess that it always failed to have the desired effect on the servants. "Of course, princess, I never doubted that." Lisa said grinning. "He said he would be here as soon as he was done with that, so I prepared this for you while you wait." She added, settling a tray in the unready hands of the princess.

Anna struggled with the clinking china before readdressing the maid. "Wait? We are talking about the health of the queen here!"

"Yes but, it's a newborn." The maid commented, shrugging her shoulders.

"It's the queen!" The redhead insisted.

"Anna…" The princess could faintly hear her sister calling to her. She ignored her; this was an important matter.

"Look I don't care if he's delivering his own child. This is a royal emergency! The queen is sick. Do you remember the last time the queen was sick?" Anna asked and Lisa shook her head. Elsa's exasperated whisper was heard and ignored yet again. "Exactly! He is the royal doctor, which means he has to be here now. So you go tell him – "

"Anna, stop!" Elsa shouted, instantly receiving what she demanded. The two girls turned to look at the queen, who sighed before directing herself to the maid in a more subdued tone. "Lisa, its fine. Tell the doctor I can wait. It's not like I'm dying."

"You don't know." Anna muttered, frowning at the floor.

Elsa rolled her eyes at her antics. "And Anna stop being so dramatic."

Anna grunted. Elsa dismissed the maid. "You can leave now Lisa."

"Thank you, your highness." Lisa bowed, closed the door, and scurried away.

Elsa watched with humor as her sister sulked by the door. "Anna, come here."

Anna glared. Elsa chuckled. "Come on, I'm sick, don't make me repeat myself so much."

Pouting, Anna took the tray over to the nightstand. "You are not letting me take care of you."

"You are overreacting." Elsa said with a smile, as she snuggled deeper into her blankets.

"Am not." Anna whined, facing her sister on the edge of the bed.

"You are also being very overprotective."

"Look who's talking." The princess retorted.

The queen chortled, rather unladylike, and although she quickly covered her mouth it still made Anna double over with laughter that she soon joined in.

The fever had not been forgotten however, or more like, it had not forgotten about her. As the queen brushed away tears of mirth a new wave of exhaustion took over her. Her eyelids dropped and her bones began to hurt.

Anna saw the grimace in her sister's face. She swept sticky tendrils out of her sister's eyes. "You must be feeling horrible."

"Somewhat." She smiled at the cooling sensation of the princess's fingers on her forehead.

"Let's get something in your stomach, okay?" Anna said, moving to retrieve the tray. She heard Elsa grunt her aversion. "Don't be like that, you need to eat something. Here I'll even give it to you." Anna took a spoonful of soup and blew on it to cool it down before presenting it to her sister.

"Don't be silly." Elsa smiled and turned her face away from the spoon.

"Hurry is going to spill all over your sheets!" Anna urged.

Elsa rolled her eyes once again and leaned forward to take the spoon into her mouth, only because she did not want her pretty blue sheets to get ruined with chicken soup, not because she was actually liking getting pampered by her little sister.

Elsa reclined on some pillows to make the feeding easier for Anna – also to not choke – and like that they shared and finished the queen's lunch.

"The doctor's not here yet." Anna said gloomily.

"A birth takes more than half an hour Anna." Elsa replied with a fond smile.

"I know…" Anna replied, re-placing the now empty tray on the bedside table. She looked over at her sister, trying to evaluate her condition. The queen's breathing had slowed down, but she still looked terribly fatigued. Anna hoped the doctor's patient would expel her baby soon.

In the meantime, she would have to find some other activity to occupy both of their minds with. "Are you tired?" She asked.

The queen shook her head. "Kind off, but I feel restless. I don't think I'll be able to sleep this way."

Anna pursed her lips and nodded. She thought for a second, before proposing cheerily. "How about I read you a story?"

Elsa chuckled. "Sure."

"Awesome!" Anna said, moving to where she knew the queen kept most of her books, on the bookshelf by the window.

She frowned as she read the titles of the books she found: "History of Arendelle" volumes one, two and three, "Prehistory of Arendelle", "Economics Today, Reimbursement Tomorrow", "Agronomy: Becoming One with Earth" and…

"Astronomy: your way through the stars." Anna read out loud. "Tell me this is not your light-before-bed reading material."

Elsa stared into the blue eyes of her sister and shrugged sheepishly. "I won't tell you then."

Anna huffed, returning the book to the shelf. She couldn't believe the boring instructional books her sister's room was filled with. She could understand when her sister wasted her time reading them on the library, but on her leisure time as well? In what would knowing about astronomy help her with anyway? What a nerd, really.

"I'll get my own." She said, giving no time for protest as she exited the room.

Anna returned a few minutes later, bringing with her only one book.

"Which one is it?" Elsa asked curiously, she could not tell which story it contained simply by the books black color.

"The Snow Queen." Anna smirked, showing her the engraved picture of the Ice Queen on a horse in the front of the book.

"Haha, funny." Elsa said dryly, but when her eyes fell on the cover they widened. She recognized the book now, and not just because of the story. "Isn't that…?"

"The one you gave me for my fifth birthday? Yes." Anna said, looking the book over.

"You kept it, all these years?" Elsa asked amazed and touched.

"Of course, it was the last present I had from you." The princess almost whispered, feeling suddenly shy.

"_And they both sat there, grown up, yet children at heart; and it was summer,- warm, beautiful summer. The end!" Little Elsa read aloud. She looked down to the smaller girl, her sister, who sat between her legs while resting against her. The little redhead had a pout on her mouth and the cutest frown on her brow. "What's wrong Anna, you didn't like the story?"_

"_No." Little Anna said soundly. _

"_Why not?" The blond wondered. _

"_Because that story is telling it wrong! You are nothing like that!" She whined, turning in her older sister's arms. _

"_You don't think I'm evil?" Elsa asked, with a mischievous glint in her eyes that her five year old sister failed to notice. _

"_Of course not!" Anna said, crossing her small arms over her smaller chest. _

_Elsa's grin grew. "What about now?" She threw the black book to the side and began to tickle her sister's sides. The younger girl could do nothing but shriek. She kicked with her tiny feet on her sister's thighs but it was futile, there was no escaping the relentless attack unless Elsa showed her mercy. _

"_Okay, okay! I give, you are the most evilsome!" Anna shouted, gasping for air when at last Elsa's fingers stopped their assault on her ribs. _

"_Don't you mean evilest?" Elsa corrected. _

"_No!" Anna rebutted, sitting Indian style on the floor. She cupped her hands to the left "You are evil…" And cupped her hands to the right. "And you are awesome." Then she moved them to the center. "So you are evilsome!" She raised them over her head as she concluded her creation of a new word. _

_Elsa laughed nodding her acceptance, how could she argue with that? It made Anna grin in return, but as she thought over the story once more, the little princess's demeanor changed. She stood from the floor and raised tiny fists that backed the determination in her eyes. _

"_But seriously Elsa, I think you are more like Kay." She nodded seriously. _

_The blond stopped laughing to cock her head in inquiry. "You mean, cruel?" _

"_What? No!" She whined, her sister was not understanding her; of course, she had yet to explain herself. "Before that! When he was nice and always played with Gerda, like you play with me!" _

"_Oh!" Elsa smiled, she could understand that._

"_Yeah! So, if you ever need saving like Kay, I will be your Gerda." Little Anna said, her face serious and filled with a strength that Elsa had never seen before in her carefree sibling. _

_Elsa smiled, affected by the pure love of her sister. She pulled her into a tight hug. _

_So tight, that it was hard for Anna to free her face from the blonde's arm. But when she did, she added, "It's because I love you, you know?" _

_Elsa's smile could not have gotten wider. "I know" She said, resting her cheek on light red hair._

The queen's heart melted once again as she gazed at her bashful sister. She didn't deserve her, she was sure, but she was oh so glad she had her anyway. She wanted nothing more than to spend her days showing her sister how much she meant to her, how much she loved her, how grateful she was to have been given another chance.

She would start by beckoning her closer, "Come here Anna and read me a story." She made space on the bed for her sister to fit in more comfortably.

Anna beamed and hurried to the bed. She got under the covers and took no time in pulling the queen into her side.

Elsa got comfortable against her sister's chest while Anna began to read. "You must attend to the commencement of this story, for when we get to the end we shall know more than we do now about a very wicked hobgoblin…" Her voice felt like the feathery fingers that threaded through her hair, and incited by the warmth expelled of her sister's body, the queen soon followed Morpheus.

Hours later, whispers aroused her from her doze. She gave no sign of being awake though; hoping whoever it was would leave, allowing her to continue her nap. Sadly, she was not so lucky.

"She's had a fever since this morning." She heard the uneasiness in sister's voice.

"Has she eaten anything?" A masculine voice asked. Elsa guessed the doctor had arrived.

"A little bit during lunch, but she has mostly slept." Anna answered, and Elsa wanted to defend herself against a description that made her sound like a lazy slob, but her heavy chest complicated the motion.

"I see." Was the last thing Elsa heard from the doctor before she gasped at the cold sensation of metal against her chest.

"Oh! Your highness, you are awake!" The man said, removing the stethoscope from the queen.

"I am now". Slightly annoyed, she forced herself to say through a horse throat. "Although you could have awoken me before probing me with anything."

"I'm sorry your majesty." He bowed. "But the princess didn't want to wake you."

Elsa looked up at her sister, whose eyes had a bit of mirth but were mostly covered in worry. Her gaze returned to the man that was waiting for her consent. "Fine, proceed."

And so the man did. He checked her throat, her eyes and even her ears, gaining an irritated glare from the queen that made Anna chuckle; who knew her sister was such a child when it came to doctors? Trying to do his job as painless – for him – and as fast – for the queen – as possible, the doctor took her temperature while he asked routine questions about her recent activities and general wellbeing. Anna barely let the queen answer most of those.

"No, she hasn't been eating much, or sleeping much, or walking much, or even living much I would say. The only thing she does is work." Anna answered the simple question of: Besides working, what have you been doing lately your majesty?

The doctor looked to the queen for confirmation, which she reluctantly gave. It was not like she could lie with her sister right there.

A few minutes later, the doctor took the thermometer out of Elsa's mouth. "38.5, that's pretty high my queen." He said, and Anna nodded like she had known it all along. "Your lungs seem to be rather clogged as well, probably from spending so much time in the library. I would recommend a day's rest and also, this." He said, bending to take out a can out of his bag. He gave it to the princess who was towering over him. "It's a cream made out of eucalyptus leaves and oils. Its vapor will help open up your trachea so you can breathe better. But what you have my queen is called exhaustion from too much work. And since it's not exactly an illness, I can't medicate you. However, fifteen minute baths in cold water and the continuous use of the cream should be help enough." He finished, smiling and picking up his bag.

"Alright. Thank you, doctor." Elsa rasped, trying her best to keep her eyes open. The doctor bowed before Anna guided him to the door.

When the princess turned around, the queen had fallen asleep again. Anna smiled tenderly at her feverish sister as she neared the bed.

"Elsa…you have to put the cream on." She said, but her sister was not listening, being too far gone in dreamland.

"Hmmm…" Was the only sound she got from the queen; that and a few more coughs.

Anna sighed for the umpteenth time in that day, figuring she would have to do this for her as well. Not that she minded, this would be much easier than giving her a bath, or so she thought.

So she set on opening the queen's robe once again; she imagined with humor how many lads would wish to be in her position, and felt quite superior at being the only non-servant being with such an honor. She shook her head at herself, chuckling. It was funny, but she probably shouldn't give it much mind; it was not like she should be feeling so above par because of it.

Anna untied the belt around her sister's waist and parted the robe to expose her chest and between her breast, but made sure to cover their peaks.

'_It's so not fair.'_ She thought without envy, gaping at the expanse of her sister's flawless skin. There was not a freckle in sight, contrary to her own body that had so many freckles she was surprised her parents had not named her Spots.

The princess was taken out of her reverie by another fit of coughs from the queen. She quickly put herself to work then. Opening the jar and taking a sufficient amount, she began to rub it onto the blonde's chest in a circular motion.

Instantly, a relieved moan left Elsa's lips. Anna watched, transfixed, as her sister's lungs began to take in deeper breathes. She widened the circles and then reduced them as she lowered her palm to between the breasts before lifting it up to the slim neck, feeling the velvety texture of the queen's skin.

"It's so soft….I wonder how it tastes." She murmured, captivated by the body in her care.

"What?" Elsa uttered sleepily.

Anna gasped unaware that she had said that out loud as well as of her sister's consciousness. "Ah…the cream! I wonder how the cream tastes, because you know it smells nice and it's green so it should taste like mint right? But mint is pretty bad if you put too much in your mouth so maybe some other example would be bett– " She ranted, stopping only when she heard her sister chuckle.

"I doubt it tastes very good Anna, is made out of eucalyptus leaves, remember?" The queen smiled, and even with her eyes closed she managed to find her sister's hand, which had been unmoving on her chest since she began speaking, and coerced it to continue its ministrations. The soft palm of her sister rubbing on her chest alleviated all of her aches.

Anna swallowed the lump in her throat as she watched her sister move her hand around her torso. "Y-yes, I…I remember."

It did not take Elsa much longer to retake her place in dream world. Anna took the opportunity to go into the kitchen and ask the servants for green tea. As she waited by one of the chairs by the counter, Kristoff appeared. She was initially surprised by his presence, she had not been expecting him at all; being so preoccupied with her sister had prevented her from sparing him a thought during the whole day.

"Kristoff!" She exclaimed as he gave her a big hug.

"Anna!" He mocked joyfully. "Look what I got!" He pulled from his jacket two tickets. She inspected them; they were for a sledge race that would take place that evening.

"Oh." Was all she said while staring at the tickets.

"…you don't sound very excited." He deflated.

"Ah, no it's not that." Although part of it was. Sledges were his thing, not hers. She would support him…from afar if possible. "But I still can't go."

"What? Why not?" This was the second time he had come all this way to invite her out and she had right out rejected him.

"My sister is sick." She explained, returning the tickets to his hand.

"Sick?" His frown was full of queries.

"Yeah I know, it's strange, but she is. Has a pretty bad fever."

"Oh, I see." He said, accepting but disappointed, knowing very well that he couldn't quite tell her that her sister was an adult, and that she would be fine in the care of the maids and royal doctor, especially considering how much he knew his girlfriend loved her sister; that wouldn't be right. So he resigned himself to another rejection. "I'll take Olaf then."

"I'm sorry Kristoff." She said sincerely. She felt bad for denying him so much lately, but her sister came first; she always had and she always would.

"It's fine. I understand." He said, turning to leave.

"Oh wait!" Anna called out, dropping from the stool she had been perched on. Kristoff looked at her expectantly. "A lot of people are going to be in that event right?"

Kristoff nodded. "I would think so."

"Then, could you try to find out something about the village incident while you are there? I doubt Elsa has found anything and I'm not good with research so…"

"Sure, I'll keep an ear out." He shrugged.

"Thank you!" As a reward, Anna gave him a huge smile and raised herself on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek. He could not help but smile at that.

The maids came to her with the green tea as Kristoff was leaving the castle. She told them she would take it up herself and made her way back to her sister's bedroom, smiling at having found a way to help her sister in her issues; even if indirectly.

However, her satisfied cast changed to one of perplexed curiosity as she neared the blue closed door. She could hear a conversation taking place on the other side, which baffled her even more because she had left her sister sleeping and alone.

She hesitated, and with a frown on her face listened to what she could gather, "What do you mean you can't tell me anything?" She heard the hoarse voice of her sister.

"I said, I couldn't tell you anything yet." A deeper, rougher voice spoke.

"Erasto, part of my kingdom has been damaged without my knowledge, the rest lies in peril because of that same dangerous ghost, and you are withholding information from me? From your queen!" The yell of her sister set her into action.

Anna pushed the door open with little decorum, eager to know who was upsetting her sister so. What she found was certainly not what she was expecting. She had assumed it to be one of the royal consultants, but there was no human in the room. There was a troll however, and not just any troll, sitting on the windowsill was Grandpappi. The tea cup almost fell from her hands.

"Grandpapi, what are you doing here?" She turned to her sister. "And Elsa, you know Grandpappi?"

There was a moment of silence as the queen gathered her bearings and the elder troll assessed the situation.

"Um, yes, although I call him Erasto." The queen said at last. Anna turned to the troll, waiting for an answer from him.

Erasto had not planned for this to occur; he had miscalculated the time it would take to make tea. Now he would have to fix it, except, there was no instant repair. He's only way out, was in. He would have to allow Anna to know the truth he thought was no unnecessary now.

"Anna, I'm here on royal business you could say. I was after all, the queen's tutor."

Anna frowned. If he had been the queen's tutor, it meant that he had known Elsa and her, since before Kristoff introduced them.

"You know Elsa since before she sealed herself away?" She concluded, moving to set the teacup on the night table before she spilled its contents all over the carpeted floor.

"No, not before, since." Grandpappi replied.

"Anna…" Elsa interjected. She could see the wheels turning inside her sister's head, and she would prefer to tell her herself before the redhead could achieve a misunderstanding. "Erasto, or Grandpappi as you call him, was the one who saved you from me, all those years ago." Elsa finished, a past sadness overtaking her again.

"Saved me? From you?" Anna asked, wondering how a troll she had only just met little more than a year ago could have saved her in her childhood.

Elsa clasped at her sheets. "Yes, you don't remember this, but when we were little we were playing in the ballroom with my magic and I accidentally hit you. You fell unconscious on the floor and our parents ran with us to the mountain. Erasto saved you by locking away every memory you had of my magic, and I – I sealed myself away, to keep you safe from me."

Anna could not believe this. "So all our childhood is a lie?" She asked with a tremor in her voice.

"No, I took out the magic, but left the fun."

'_Of course, because that was better'_, Anna thought miserably.

Elsa saw the tears that began to gather on her sister's eyes. "Anna don't be mad at him, he saved us." She pleaded.

"Saved us? The only thing he did was separate us. Because of him we were forced into a solitary life!" Anna shouted. All those years of loneliness, of rejection, of feeling unloved, and even worst, all the times he could have told her the truth behind them with every visit she gave to the mountains, yet he kept it to himself.

"Anna, I was the one who stayed locked away even after our parents died. It is my fault that you were so alone, and I'm sorry." Elsa cried.

"I did what the king asked of me, but had to be done to keep you both alive." Erasto replied. "Now you know exactly why your childhood was so lonely, but tell me Anna, what good did it do?"

Anna watched as the troll left the room by dropping from the window. Her nails dug into her palms. She was just so mad. If he had taken a second to tell her what was going on during her childhood, just a second to explain it to her, neither she nor her sister would have felt so desperately lonely for so many years, because Anna was sure that she would have gotten through that closed door, through her sister's own fear and through the constant rejection that came with it. She would have found her way to her.

"Anna." Elsa called out to her. Anna's glare fell on her, not because the ginger wanted to dispense her hate over her, but because she could not get rid of it; she doubted she would be able to remove it for a while. "Please tell me you understand why I did what did."

Elsa had a profound need for her sister to understand that she had never meant to hurt her, just to protect her.

Anna blinked her tears, and with a quiver in her voice she said, "I do, but…I need to go."

And with that she turned and left the room.


	5. Oddly Reversed

**Author's notes: Well that was…freakishly long! Unintentionally by the way. In any case, I'm not too sure about this chapter. So as you read it, if you could please tell me what it's missing, not just the chapter but my writing and/or the story in general, I would be very grateful; if you think there's anything I mean. **

**P.S. I have to go to work, so I have only verified half of it. Please excuse all the mistakes you may find. I will fix them later tonight. That said, I hope you are still able to enjoy the chapter. **

**Also, Happy New Year!**

_Chapter five: Oddly Reversed _

The next day's young rays of light brought with them a refreshed queen.

Although, invigorated as she was by the improvement of her health, she still felt a tug on the bottom of her heart at the memory of the past evening's events; Anna's tears were what haunted her the most. Nonetheless, the queen forced herself to ignore her doleful feelings for the moment, and lifted her body from her enormous bed to start her morning routine.

It was a feat, she would concede, to have been able to carry out every cleansing and beautifying task with a storm of thoughts surging within her mind. Exiting her adjacent bathroom, Elsa settled on the edge of her bed once again. She sighed as she finished drying her face, the small towel falling towards her lap and her shoulders following suit. A frown adorned her delicate brow as she lifted a hand to massage her right temple.

What was she to do? She wondered. On one side she had Anna to worry about, or more specifically, Anna's feelings to consider and restore. The queen wished the girl would understand why things had transpired as they had before simply letting the issue go; it was futile to dwell on it. And yes, Elsa knew it was hard. To think everything could have gone so differently if they had confided in each other, if she had confided in her sister, but what's done is done. Nothing could be taken back, so why bother filling oneself with anguish over an unchangeable past?

On the other hand, Queen Elsa was bursting with worries over her kingdom as much as any responsible ruler would. She was quite irritated with her dear tutor Erasto for having the gall to withhold important information from her; it was irrelevant to her if he deemed said information necessary for her ears at the moment or not. She was the queen, she had not only the right but the obligation to know everything that was going on in her kingdom!

Elsa stood, irked to the bones. She tossed the towel to the floor and hastily made her way out of her bedchamber.

Meanwhile, Princess Anna was of like mind. Although, not so much worried about the future of the kingdom, but certainly mad at herself for her latest emotional outburst and even more concerned for her sister's health. Yet, even with this intense desire to go to the queen, she had yet to move a single muscle out of the chair she currently occupied. The princess had just finished her breakfast, and was delighting – albeit unconsciously – on a feast of her thumb nail. Anxiety was eating at her like a million ants walking through her veins on their way to construct a home in her diaphragm.

She huffed, this was silly. She was thinking about Elsa, her sister, who would surely welcome her with a warm smile and an even warmer hug at the mere sight of her.

She smiled, lost in a recent memory of those actions, enough to fail to notice a few maids regarding her with a strange look. Anna continued to enjoy her remembrance until a cough startled her out of her wonderful stupor. Looking to the side she found a servant standing there, her green eyes shifting to everything but her.

"Yes?" Anna asked.

The woman spoke in a rather shy voice. "Miss, may I take your empty plates?"

Anna stared with an inquisitive frown on her visage. She wondered why the servant was acting so strange, to the point that she was rudely avoiding her gaze. The princess opened her mouth, set on asking about her impolite behavior, but a second before she could express her discomfort she realized all on her own that the weird one was her, who was still hugging herself quite fiercely and had probably been doing so since the moment she recalled her sister's embrace. The redhead felt her cheeks heat up as wildly as her hair, she rasped her throat hoping for a casual appearance as she released her torso and gestured for the maid to proceed with her task.

"Yes please." She said softly, keeping her eyes on the other side of the room as the maid cleaned the table and left.

Anna rolled her eyes at herself, even more miffed. The maidservants probably thought she was crazy, and she was, or she would be, if she didn't talk to her sister at once. She hit the table with her palms and propelled herself off the chair in search of the queen.

Apparently, it was to be an odd day, full of odd actions and odd expressions and odd occurrences, first for Anna's eccentric behavior at the breakfast table, and secondly because of the queen's sudden disappearance. The princess scoured her mind for a place her sister could have gone to, especially in her condition.

Anna rummaged the entirety of the room, even within the bathroom, but the queen was nowhere to be found. She walked through the halls, visited the kitchen, her study, the garden and the library, but still no Elsa in sight. Completely baffled, the princess opted to simply ask the servants if perhaps they had seen her.

"Oh yes, Princess Anna. The queen said she was feeling so well she was going on a promenade." The maid smiled, bending to pick a towel from the floor of the queen's room.

Anna frowned, "To where?" She asked. A day after a high fever, to where could her sister have the energy to walk to? Not to mention that the queen was actually taking a day off, her queen, her sister, Elsa! That was completely incredible in itself.

"She mentioned something about wanting to fix the bridge at the limit of the town square." The woman replied, exiting the bathroom where she had just placed a new towel for the queen.

"Alone?" The redhead's inquisitive stare pierced through the maid.

"Why, yes ma'am. What with her powers and all, I doubt she will need much help with that." The servant chuckled as she took a basket full of dirty laundry and left the room.

Anna nodded. Yes, that made sense. What didn't make sense was her sister's sudden desire to fix a bridge she had more or less already repaired. And even more suspicious, that she would redo such an endeavor with her powers when Anna knew very well the queen disliked flaunting her magical abilities.

Crossing her arms over her chest, the wheels in her head turned as she began to put things together. Her sister was not one to keep grudges, so it would be silly to think the queen had fled the castle as a punishment for her latest overreaction. Neither did Anna think her behavior had hurt her sister so greatly, that she now wished to never see her again; Elsa was after all, the most emotionally controlled person she knew (unlike herself). Therefore, those possibilities were pushed away from her mind, and not believing for one second that the queen had truly gone to mend an already fixed bridge, Anna could only think of one other reason as to why her sister would revisit that region: it was all a diversion and what Elsa was really going to do was return to the village.

"But no… no way". Anna said, snickering at her conclusion, unbelieving of it. Once again, she failed to remember that she was thinking about the queen, her sister, Elsa, not herself. She would be more likely to act so recklessly, but Elsa? No, never Elsa.

She shook her head as she left the queen's room. Maybe her sister had simply needed fresh air. Surely she would return promptly.

There was doubt tugging at the back of her head, but she ignored it. It was early, she would let her sister prance about and berate her later for not inviting her to come along. In the meantime, she would make herself useful to the queen by asking Kristoff if he had gathered any useful information from the sledge race.

As Princess Anna made her way to the troll village, Queen Elsa pushed through the vines of the woods located after the river in her quest to find the recently visited human village. She let out all the air she had in her lungs while keeping a good eye on the ground to prevent any unnecessary falls. Elsa was glad that her body temperature was much lower than a normal humans' because even though she was not sweating she could feel the sun beating down on the tree's leaves causing the air to be filled with muggy humidity.

It was hard to believe she had already walked that trek when every step seemed so much difficult. She guessed it could be indebted to the lack of attention she paid the route the last time she traveled it. Not that she was lost, she knew very well where she was and where she had to go, it just seemed so much farther than she remembered. Elsa held onto a tree bark as she leaped over one of its bigger roots. The trip would certainly be easier with the help of her magic. But no, the last thing she needed to do was boast her powers to a village that was already frightened of her.

Resigned to her arduous fate, she begged her feet to drag her further ahead. It took her longer than she had anticipated, but at last, she reached the opening that lead to the village's entrance.

Nonetheless, independently of what she desired, she couldn't very well walk in like she had done previously. That would surely not bode well with the villagers, and it would certain to be a hazard to her health as well. So, a different course of action was to be taken.

Hidden behind a large tree, Elsa glanced over the expanse of dry land before her. It was as barren as she recalled which, besides reaffirming the village's impoverished state, showed no adequate place to conceal the smuggling of her frame into the village; even with the lack of surveillance, the commune was uncovered enough that any direct action could be seen from its center; Elsa had no doubt that she too would be seen, since from her spot behind the oak tree she could clearly witness every single action taken by the villagers who were out in the open.

The queen scrutinized her surroundings once more. There had to be some way she could enter into the village unperceived. She just needed to get in there, to see deeper into the issues of her kingdom, to find out for herself what her ex-tutor denied her. How else was she to truly understand the troubles that burdened her kin? How was she to consequently amend them?

Elsa huffed, her breath freezing a section of the tree's bark on contact. In her anxiousness to enter the village she did not acknowledge the exteriorization of her powers, nor did she notice the crunching of fallen leaves to her left.

"It's hard to not believe you are the Ice Witch like that." A boyish voice with a grave undertone said. The surprise it gave the queen froze a bigger portion of the tree, a few solid leaves falling around her.

Elsa tore her eyes from the village, quickly finding the source of the statement in the form of a young boy. To be more exact, in the form of a young thief, one she had already had an encounter with. It seemed like it had been yesterday when those angered eyes bore into hers. They still held the wrath from all those weeks ago, but now his light brown almost yellowish orbs owned a hint of suspicion, the same she had glimpsed right before he had fled the scene at the towns square.

The queen collected herself. Then, mentally agreeing with his comment, she moved her hand over the tree's bark managing to unfreeze it; the ice dissolved into the air like a mist.

Elsa returned her eyes to the boy. "It's not very respectful to call your queen an Ice Witch." She scolded calmly but firmly, as she examined his outlook with the outmost subtlety. He wore the same rags she had already seen, with pants of poor material already torn at the knees, a red shirt with the same dirt stains that covered his arms and left cheek, and barefooted.

"It's not disrespectful if it's the truth." He challenged, a frown that added years to his young existence deepening on his brow.

Elsa disagreed with his reply and it showed on her own frown. She said in a stronger voice, "How do you know is the truth boy? Have you seen me act like a witch?"

The boy gave no reply to her question. The queen could see him biting his cheek, heatedly searching his mind for a comeback that he would not find considering she had been nothing but kind the last and only time they ran into each other. Elsa sighed, feeling bad for raising her voice to a boy that was having a difficult life and who clearly had no appropriate outlet for his emotions; it had not been that long ago since she too had lost control of her own feelings.

"I'll take that as a no." She said. "So then, care to tell me why you and your village think me a witch?" She guessed the boy also inhabited the village considering he had appeared so near to it.

"You should know." The boy said, the sentence loosing strength and ending in a whisper as his eyes dropped to the ground.

"If I did I wouldn't be asking." Elsa replied. She was begging to get irritated with yet another person who denied her information when she so politely asked, but she tried to hold onto her patience with the boy. He might as well be her only chance at finding anything out, given how complicated getting into the village unnoticed was going to be.

The boy's expression told of his internal battle. "It is what it means."

Elsa held onto her tongue, preventing it from clicking against her teeth exasperatedly. That answer told her nothing. It seemed like the villagers thought her an ice witch simply because she had the power to manipulate ice, something that although possible was quite dubious. Perhaps she should find answers to those questions from someone else at some other moment, she concluded, determining to inquire about another more primal matter.

"Fine." She relented, glancing towards the village. "This is your village, correct?" She looked to him as she asked.

"Yes." He replied.

Elsa nodded, thinking over what she wanted to say and how she wanted to say it, "Listen, I can see from here how poverty has stricken your village. I hear it is my fault, and in a way the fact that I could not prevent it makes it true. Now, I want to fix my mistake. I don't know if you believe me or not since your suspicion is evident in your eyes, but I would be very grateful if you gave me the benefit of the doubt, and even more so if you told me about its most insufferable issues." She finished, praying the boy would acquiesce her request.

Amber colored eyes poured over her, studying, seizing her. She stood, unmoving, as the boy's frown began to lessen in harshness. He nodded, an action that was almost lost on the queen as the boy's feet turned to carry him back to where he came from. He moved but a few paces before noticing the queen was not pursuing him.

"Follow me." He muttered without halting his steps. Elsa knew not where he was taking her, but she trailed after him anyway, not wishing to lose the opportunity…

Princess Anna would never admit to her boyfriend that he had been right, that her flats and dresses were as horrible as they were unpractical for mountain climbing, but she would admit to herself that her feet were killing her and that her dress was in the process of helping with that for the third time as she tripped over yet another branch. She took a deep breath, wiping her brow and lifting her leg as high as it could go to reach the last rock to the troll's yard; the other road, the one to the village, had not been this uneven.

She brushed her skirt when she finally reached level ground, taking a few more minutes to breathe deeply and calm her rapidly beating heart.

"I need to work out more." She muttered moving to cross the expanse of what worked as the portico and entrance to the Troll Village.

The foyer was plain, lacking the rocks of varying sizes it usually held; probably because there was still daylight and the trolls were nocturne creatures. She entered the covert commune, obscured to human eyes whether in daylight or moonlight for the small houses were inserted within the stocks of the trees. The princess swam between them, searching for one in particular, a tree taller and wider than the rest. It was located at the end of the village, having been sculpted on recent times at the addition of a new and different kind of denizen.

She saw him before he saw her, bending over the small flowers that adorned the circumference of his tree house. Kristoff worked diligently on his small garden while Sven rested under a nearby shade.

"Hey Kristoff!" She called when she considered herself near enough. Her hands intertwined behind her and her back slightly bended towards him. The smile on her face belied her accomplished intention: to scare the wits out of him with the sudden sound of her voice.

The blond young man fell, the sound of Sven's whiny laughter resounding through the woods as loudly as the contact of his rear with the hard ground.

He looked towards the origin of his surprise and got an even bigger surprise at the sight of his girlfriend. His irritation instantly disappeared and he rose from the ground, dropping his instruments and lifting a smile.

"Anna!" He grinned, delighted at her visit. He opened his arms to engulf her in a big hug, which she returned just as fiercely. "What are you doing here?"

The question was posed to satiate a superficial curiosity; he cared very little for the answer since what was important was that she was there. Nonetheless, he would learn that sometimes it was better to appreciate the end and ignore the means, especially when the why's could sting your heart for days.

Anna giggled as the tall man settled her on the ground. She untangled herself from him before answering, "Well, I wanted to know if you had any info for me." She said, aligning her skirt.

The words stirred within his head for a short while, "Oh...You mean about the village." He mumbled dejectedly. His demeanor dropped as fast as the tools he had forgotten on the ground behind him when he realized that she had not come all that way to simply see him; her true motives had little to do with him.

"Yes!" Anna nodded eagerly. Her expectant gaze failed to see the disappointment in his visage.

Kristoff turned, picking the discarded tools and returning to his work. He kneeled beside some moss that was growing around the roots of his house. "No, I didn't hear anything, and the few guys that I asked knew even less." He uprooted the undesired plant and threw it over onto Sven's head. The reindeer awoke startled, his horns spinning from side to side in alarm. At finding nothing out of the ordinary, he retook his posture to continue sleeping. Kristoff shook his head, amused at his friend's aloofness.

"Really? Nothing at all?" Anna persisted right after Sven had retaken his nap. She moved to sit on a log that was close by, setting her right elbow on her thigh to rest her cheek upon her hand. Her sigh carried her disillusion at the outcome of his endeavor.

Kristoff rose to his feet and dusted his hands against each other. He took a sit beside Anna and laid his arm over her small shoulders, squeezing them in an effort to bring her some comfort.

"I'm sorry Anna, but it's hard to get information out of men trapped by the excitement of a sledge race." His voice took a slightly excited tone, as if he was recalling the exhilaration of the event. Anna's pout diminished at the childlike glint in his eyes. A smile started to replace it, but then Kristoff had to add, "Besides, Grandpappi says it's best if we don't meddle in this affair." He shrugged.

The lighting like speed in which Anna twisted her head towards him would forever be ingrained within his mind as would the most frightening and bizarre expression he had even seen her make. Somehow, Anna had managed to pull her eyebrows as together and as deeply into her nose as possible while widening her eyes into that arch. She looked both furious and shocked. It would have been funny, even made Kristoff laugh, had she not seemed to him dementedly enraged.

"Grandpappi told you we shouldn't meddle?" She couldn't believe this, it had not been enough for him to ruin their childhood, now he wanted to ruin their kingdom as well!

Kristoff leaned back and away from her, scared to the bones by her abrupt, angered outburst. As he stared and gulped down his fear, he debated between trying to placate her and running for his life.

"Why?" Anna leaned towards him, like a predator. If she had been her sister she would have kept calm, if she had been a younger Anna she would have accepted his answer as just another closed door on her face, but not now. Present Anna pushed doors open and kept them ajar with her sister's help, this Anna would not allow a troll to slam another door on her face, even if that troll was Grandpappi.

Kristoff stuttered, searching for an answer that he had not received. " Ah, well, because…"

"Because it was not his business just as it is not of your immediate concern Princess Anna." A crusty authoritarian voice answered.

Kristoff and Anna looked ahead to find precisely the one they were speaking off, Grandpappi. His body almost completely camouflaged by the rock he was resting upon. It had the same color of his rocky skin, so that only moving hands and his hairy head could be well discerned. His dark eyes were focused on a smaller rock he seemed to be carving, the form of the sculpture to incomplete to be guessed by the princess. Not that she cared much for that, she was too preoccupied by not believing her own luck. From all the trolls in the village he had to be the one to suffer from insomnia on that particular day.

Do not get her wrong, Anna did not hate Grandpappi or Erasto or whatever was his real name (mostly because the princess had never hated anything), yet the intense feeling of dislike she was feeling in that precise moment could have fooled anyone, even herself.

"How can it not be of my concern when you clearly acknowledged that I am the princess?" Anna growled.

"I see you are still mad." Grandpappi commented, filing what would soon be peak.

"Of course I am!" She shouted, but berated herself a second later. Kristoff was here, and this was still his Grandpappi; she didn't want to offend her boyfriend. And as mad as she was towards Grandpappi and as much as she wanted to insult him for all the forest to hear, her upbringing prevented her from letting it all out.

"Why?" Grandpappi shrugged, carving deeper into some feathers.

Kristoff's silent stare jumped from Anna to his Grandpappi in rapid succession. He had no idea of why they were having such a heated argument, the last time they saw each other they had shared laughs and traded compliments.

But that was exactly the problem. Last time, and all the times before, Anna had come up to that mountain with a smile on her face and a loving heart. She had shared in the confidence Kristoff granted his love-knowing family since his childhood. And in return, she had been deceived like a naive child. Here was the eldest, the wisest of the trolls, playing her like a fool.

"I trusted you." It pained her to confess. Anger and hurt bubbling from her chest she felt the prick of tears in her eyes. She could not believe she had been so stupid to think him so grand, so good above everything else. He was nothing of the sort. He had managed to convince her sister to stay away from her and while her anger towards her sister's poor judgment had completely disappeared (she would not hold her accountable for what she did as a child), it would take much longer before she could look at Grandpappi in the same light; perhaps even forever.

"I understand my child, and I accept it." He said, dusting the rock residue from the small sculpture. He deposited his black eyes on her and saw her clenched jaw, the intrusive tears in her eyes, the tight grasp she had on her skirt. The elder troll felt his heart constrict, just like it had for little Elsa when her blue eyes shined with restrained sadness. Still, he would forever believe that he had done what he thought best, at the cost of their solitude yes, but at the gain of their lives. How long would the little princesses have lasted together and well, had they scurried around the castle releasing Elsa's uncontrollable powers? Nothing, he was sure, death or enslaved they would be now. Therefore, if her hatred was to be his recompense, then so be it. With a heavy heart he would gladly take it.

His reply though, did nothing but ignite the sorrowful flame within her. "You are making the same mistake again you know?" She spat.

Grandpappi shook his head. He blew on the sculpture and threw it in her direction. Anna's hand stretched, catching it on instinct. "I don't believe that. I made no mistake in the first place."

The rock made sculpture was sufficiently hard to acquire no dent under her crushing hand. She huffed, "You are one of those who never thinks he's wrong." Originally meant to be a question, it came out as more of a statement.

"That's not true, but I am rarely wrong." He said.

With that reply, Anna had had enough of his arrogant attitude. She rose from the log and, numb to her boyfriend's call as well as the stab of pointy wings on her left palm, stomped her way out of the troll's village.

On the contrary, with careful steps and rapid glances to her surroundings, Elsa climbed the three riven planks (skipping the missing middle one) that lead to the boy's small cottage. She halted on the narrow lobby in front of some pink curtains that worked as the cabin's door.

"May I come in?" She asked the drapery, having lost the boy within the house.

"Like you said, you are the queen." She heard the boy say from the other side of the curtains. His voice sounded grouchy but distant, like he was concentrating on something else; probably related to the clanks the queen could hear from her position.

"Yes but, this is your home." She replied. The clattering ceased and for exception of the light chirping of insects nothing could be heard. The queen neared the curtain, trying to see through the tears and slits into the cabin. She was about to slide a part to the side when a head protruded from between them reaping a quickly stifled shriek from the queen.

"Shussh! And come in, quick, we don't want to the neighbors to see you." The boy demanded and Elsa, with a furtive glance behind her, abided his demand.

The inside of the cottage was as bare as its exterior. The furniture consisted of three small chairs settled against the wall to her left: the smallest one kept only its pink color around the base of the seat with one white daisy on its center, a slightly taller one lacked its backrest, and the third and farthest from the queen had no legs, its base resting directly on the floor. Besides that there was a thick blanket on a corner by the door, but there were no tables or trinkets or any other sort of things expected within a home.

The queen watched as the tuft of black hair bustled in what appeared to be the kitchen of the cabin. The boy took a cup that was resting on the counter that also accommodated the sink and the stove. He rinsed it under the faucet and dried it with an old rug before dropping the contents of a boiling pot into it.

Elsa stared as he offered the cup to her. "It's hot tea." He said, placing it on her opened palms. A drop that escaped from a dent on the mug burned her finger. She ignored it though, and showed her appreciation by thanking him and drinking what appeared to be green tea.

"I'm sorry I don't have a place for you to sit." He grumbled, settling on the floor.

"That's alright." She replied, wondering if the juvenile frown on his face ever left him. She supposed not, considering the life he lead and the weight he had in his shoulders if the two extra chairs meant he had siblings to take care of.

Elsa leaned against the wall as she drank her surprisingly delicious tea; even at her palace she rarely tasted tea that good. Through the wider slits on the wooden planks of the opposite wall, she could see a section of the rest of the village. It was hard to individualize the houses when they were all painted in the same poverty. Grass rimmed everything that was not covered by dirt and the stench of the loosed animals reached them even within the boy's small cottage, which was situated at the border of the village.

The sight was appalling to her as queen and as co-citizen. She could take it no longer, and it showed in her determined eyes when she turned to speak to the boy. "Tell me, from all of the necessities you have here, which are the most immediate?"

The boy, already decided on giving the queen the requested benefit of the doubt and therefore willing to help her in her quest, bit her lip in consideration of her question.

"Food." He stated first and foremost. The queen nodded, having already prioritized that one. "And water and tools for constructing better houses and…" He stopped in his listing, seeming to have reached an item harder to name.

"And?" Elsa urged.

The boy's eyes shifted from the queen to the crystal-less window and back again, pensive of his next action. Suddenly, he rose from the floor. "I'll show you." He said, walking towards the curtain-like-door. Elsa pulled herself from the wall promptly, and not knowing what else to do with the cup, left it on the window frame, hurrying to follow the boy out of the cabin.

They scurried around the backs of the houses, hiding behind empty barrels when a villager randomly appeared; luckily for her, most men were out hunting while the majority of women concentrated on performing different types of housework. Through the windows, the boy showed Elsa the scarcity of domestic items each decaying cabin contained; few had little more than his. And behind a cow, Elsa viewed the difficulty only one well presented for an entire village. The food, as the boy had mentioned, was one of the most crucial problems the village possessed. Oddly enough, the children were the most eager to share their petty rations, while the adults protected their portions like feral animals distributing them only within the closest of their family.

And poverty makes people desperate, a truth Elsa had always known yet had never had the displeasure of seeing in person. That would change that evening.

When they had rounded the entirety of the small village, the boy told the queen it was time for her to see his worst fear. The sky's blue was beginning to merge with a light orange and the queen could only wonder what necessity had to wait until a specific hour to not just be needed, but feared.

It was harder for her to squeeze between the wooden fence and the last house at the end of the village than for the thin boy that lead her, but she managed to do so after one last hard push that tore the end of her dress.

"Shh." The boy hissed, pulling her to crouch beside him behind an old slumped carriage.

Elsa looked above the coach but she saw nothing in the shadowed expanse between the back of the farthest houses and the fence. Until she heard it, a muffled scream, the sound of hard footsteps and the dragging of lighters ones, the grunting and angered muttering of deep male voices and the cry of a woman who was subsequently harshly thrown on the ground.

The queen's eyes widened, her mouth hung and her breathing ceased. She watched, aghast, as one of the men took a step towards the woman who scrambled backwards to get away from him. The tears in her eyes spoke of her fear but the grasp she had on a small pouch pressed against her chest spoke of her stubbornness.

"Just give it to us." A redheaded man demanded, his open palm facing up.

"No! I need this, I have a child!" The woman cried. She shook her head vehemently and pushed the bad deeper into her torso as if she wanted her body to swallow it.

"Yeah? I have two, Richard here has three, and James has a newborn. So who do you think needs it more?" The shorthaired redhead spat, pointing to each of his companions respectively.

"I do, because is my money!" The tremble of her jaw made no dent in her infuriated glare.

"Not anymore." His crimson beard shook along with his head. He gestured to the man on his right, a tall broad shouldered building of a man who's tanned muscled shined as much as his shaved scalp. "James."

The man nodded, moving to stand before the woman. In an abrupt grasp he had her hanging from her maroon hair. Elsa was livid, enough to almost reveal herself in an impulsive move to aid the crying woman. The boy however, did not allow her to get far, much less to unveil their existence. He yanked as hard as he could on the queen's short cape succeeding in keeping her behind the carriage.

"Let go boy! She needs help!" She hissed, wrenching her cape for his grasp.

"You are only here to watch!" He whisper-shouted back. "What do you think will happen if they see you, if they see you here with me?" He added, angrily pointing at himself.

Elsa swallowed her retorts as well as her intentions, he was right. In a village as small and desperate as this one, his actions would be considered treason. And in sight of what she had just witnessed, she could only imagine what overwrought penalty he would be given.

Reluctantly, she kept her position while the men ahead finished with their thievery. James ripped the bag from the woman's feeble hands and threw it towards the redhead who caught it with little effort. He released her hair and left her to continue her crying on the dirt. The trio left, ignoring the woman who begged for their compassion. Only Richard, the shortest of the three, whispered an apology that got lost in the arid wind of the upcoming twilight.

Solely when she had thought her sister dead, had Elsa felt so utterly impotent. Her nails dug into the wooden wheel of the carriage as she battled feelings that urged her to run to the woman or after the criminals that abused her.

She followed absentmindedly when the boy pulled on her elbow.

"I worry for my little brother and sister." He mentioned, leading the way back to his cabin.

Although the queen did not reply, she felt his fear very deep within her being. Her heart ached for him like it had ached for her own sister and as she slipped out of the village and made her way back to her castle Elsa vowed to do everything in her power to secure and better their lives.

In the same hasty manner in which the queen was descending towards the palace, Anna was tramping in the royal garden. The meaning of her muttering could barely be heard by the few servants who checked on her Queerness every once in a while. They gossiped among each other, telling tales of the queen's latest act of disappearance and how this had finally tripped the princess on her own lost marbles. Chatter that came to an abrupt halt at the sight of the queen herself. The queen however paid them no mind as soon as they answered her question about the princess's whereabouts; something their relieved sighs would demonstrate they were overly grateful for.

Elsa could not prevent the quirked eyebrow and amused smile that surfaced as she neared Anna, who she found pacing anxiously from the lilies to the gardenias. The queen waited, but when Anna kept walking from side to side mumbling about magical ice castles and whatnot without taking notice of her presence, Elsa decided make her presence known.

"Anna."

And the princess halted before the gardenias so abruptly that it gave the queen a little start. Elsa watched as she glanced up to the sky, as if she had just received a divine epiphany instead of her sister's calling. She tried again, and at last the princess's light blue eyes fell on her.

"Elsa!" Anna shouted, rushing over to her. Worry evident behind her exasperated gaze as she added, "Where the hell have you been?"

"Anna! Language!" Elsa chastised, her eyes shifting in search of witnesses to her sister's vulgarity.

Anna flushed slightly, a bit ashamed at her sister's reprimand, but she shook her head right after, believing to have the right to some expletives considering the day that had just elapsed. "Language? Do you have any idea how much I've worried over you today?" Her voice sounded like a whiny shrill that had the queen holding in her laugher. Meanwhile, Anna continued with her fuming, "How could you not have the decency to tell me where you were going? I searched the entire castle, even went up to the troll's village for you. I didn't know if you had been kidnapped or if you had disintegrated in your bed or skid your way to your ice palace or anything!" She expelled her arms to the sides.

Elsa could see Anna was quite outraged at her behavior, yet she couldn't hold it in any longer. Laughter erupted from within her, softly at first but rising in volume as Anna's expression morphed from anger to insult.

"How dare you laugh at me!" She stomped a foot on the ground. "I don't see what's so funny." The princess pouted.

The queen tried to catch her breath. "Really? You don't?" She prodded, giggles still escaping from between her fingers.

Anna thought about it, if only to not be left out on the joke, even if the joke was on her. Her eyelids dropped into slits and she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest as realization dawned on her.

"I'm acting nothing like you." She refuted, turning her face away from the queen.

Elsa chuckled fondly. "You sounded pretty much like me right now, except that I don't rant".

"It's because we are spending so much time together!" Not that the princess was complaining.

"So you accept it!" Elsa replied with a triumphant smile.

Anna growled low in her throat but gave in, finding solace in her sister's arms. Elsa returned the embrace, settling her nose against her sister's tresses. They smelled sweet, like petunias, which strangely, they did not have in their enormous garden; the scent calmed her concerns and she sighed, the stress of the day easing from her neck.

"I do not enjoy this change of roles". Anna grumbled against the queen's shoulder earning another chuckle from her sister.

"Alright, then let's imagine this never happened." The queen suggested, shrugging her delicate shoulders.

Anna disentangled herself from the queen to give her a suspicious glance. Sure, like she would believe her sister would not use this to tease her in the years to come. "Right." She said incredulously.

Elsa laughed, knowing her sister would not take the bait. She spun them both, her arm around Anna's slightly smaller shoulders, in direction of the castle. "It's getting late and this winter chill is not good for you. Let's go inside so you can tell me about your day and I can tell you about mine." The queen said a soft smile on her lips.

Anna grinned, enclosing her sister's waist in her arms. Her heart swelled at the prospect. She could think of no better way (or a more enjoyable one) to finish a vexing day than narrating its events to her adoring sister as she reclined against her on the comfiest sofa of the castle.

"Let's drink hot chocolate too." Except adding that, of course. She squeezed Elsa's waist.

The queen chuckled. "Okay."

It was much later, after countless of stories and topic deviations that induced infinite giggles, that the sister's parted for their respective bedchambers. Anna laid buried deep within her peach colored sheets, finding sleep in the warm memory of her sister's cold chest. She sighed, a content smile on her lips as exhaustion claimed her.

But it was hard to fall asleep when it felt like someone was watching you.

Anna snapped her eyes open at the sensation of rustling blankets at the end of her bed. She readied herself to scream, sitting upright and scrambling to get as close to the bed's post as she possibly could. Grabbing onto her bent knees she peered into the darkness, where she found a pair of pale brown eyes accompanied by two sections of a floating grin. The whole sight was very similar to Lewis Caroll's invisible cat from Alice in Wonderland; Anna would know, it was her second favorite book as a child.

The eyes and smile floated towards her, and Anna gulped and took a breath to scream at the top of her lungs. Yet, when they drifted into the moonlight that penetrated through the window, Anna discovered that the features were glued to a face that was attached to a head which was part of a very small body.

Before her on the center of her bed was a little girl, with chestnut brown hair, bright eyes and a big smile missing her two front teeth that not for seeming slightly psychotic was it any less sweet; she was a very happy and excited child Anna would think…or hope. Her fleshy cheeks and long shirt disguised her flimsy frame and she sat there, watching the princess while clasping a plush panda or a plush cat with bald spots, Anna was not be sure which.

The small child, who Anna suspected was not older than five years old, said nothing. The silence was beginning to revive the anxiety the princess had felt at first. So as to make sure the girl was not some kind of horrid apparition Anna tried to speak to her.

But before a word could leave her mouth, the child's smile dropped and she rose as if she had heard something from outside. Anna had not heard anything, and she made to tell the girl so, but the child had already jumped down her bed, ran to the window and proceeded to jump out of it as well.

Anna gasped and hurriedly scrambled out of her bed in search of the girl who had just thrown herself out of a second story window, almost launching herself over it in the process. She clutched the frame as her eyes sought frantically, but she never found her. Anna could not understand, a leap from that high would kill any normal human being! Either the girl had flown, or…Anna was more worn than she had previously thought. Maybe, she thought she was awake, but she was actually still sleeping and all of that had just been a very odd dream.

The princess backpedaled away from the window, carefully, warily. She retook her place under her covers and closed her eyes willing all of the recent events to disappear from her mind. She would continue to sleep and forget all about this for now, even if that meant sleeping while she was already sleeping.


	6. Shenanigans of a Christmas Eve Morning

_**Author's Notes: This chapter was becoming way too long, so I had to cut it into three parts, so as to not leave you waiting for an update any longer. **_

_**Classes just started so updates might take a little longer to appear (unless I prioritize correctly and put my fanfics before my studies, as always *note the sarcasm* XD) but I will update and the story will be finished. **_

_**So thank you for your patience. **_

_**I hope you enjoy it enough to leave me a review!**_

_Chapter six: Shenanigans of a Christmas Eve Morning_

For all the mess it appeared to be when she had awoken her sister that morning, Anna's hair felt like silk between Elsa's fingers. She brushed the auburn locks by inserting her digits within the tangles .The last knot coming loose easily before the queen proceeded to stroke the red mane from the tip of the princess's head down to her nape, her fingernails scratching softly at her tender flesh.

Anna became a giggling ball. "That tickles!" She snickered.

"Oh? Where? Here?" Elsa asked innocently, scratching lightly on the same spot of her sister's neck she had tickled seconds ago.

"Elsa!" Anna whined between her sniggers, yet she made no move to get out of her sister's grasp aside from trying to hide her neck between her shoulder blades. "Stop!"

A smirking Elsa relented on her attack. She moved to sit beside the princess on the mid-size divan Anna had before her bedroom mirror and took the left section of her sister's hair to braid it in her trademark plait.

"You are evil." Anna said, wiping a mirth tear out of her right eye as she recovered her breath.

"I thought I was evilsome" Elsa replied with a teasing smile. Anna beamed, surprised and delighted that her sister had remembered such a flimsy memory from their childhood. "Hey, look ahead, or you'll have lopsided braids."

Anna did as told, biting her lip to keep herself from continuing to smile like a fool. It did not work very well, and her embarrassed blush only intensified as she felt her sister's stare on the side of her head. Quickly, she rummaged her brain for something to talk about, not because the silence was uncomfortable, it was far from that, but because she was an anxious being by nature; she always needed to do something and often that something was to talk.

"You know, I had the strangest dream last night, or nightmare, or hallucination. I'm not very sure which…" Anna trailed off thoughtfully, her index finger tapping at her chin and her eyes searching the ceiling for answers.

Elsa quirked an eyebrow, the right side of her mouth lifting slightly at how adorable her sister looked while seeming so pensive. She tilted her head to the side trying to stare more directly into the princess's visage as her unfished sentence stirred her curiosity.

"What was it about?" The queen asked while tying a thin green band around the tip of the plait she had just completed. She moved to the other side of the bench to repeat the process on the remaining section of her sister's hair.

"Well, I was sleeping." Anna started, her head turning automatically to look at her sister, but just in the same manner Elsa pushed her chin with a delicate finger to get her to stare ahead once again. Anna was not deterred, she continued with her story as if nothing. "But not really because I was thinking about you…you know... stuff!"

The princess's shifty eyes and suddenly reddened cheeks made the queen wonder if she had missed something. She probably had, but she lacked the time to ponder on it as Anna hurried to get to the point.

"And then suddenly, a pair of eyes and a mouth floated up to me!" Anna exclaimed. She moved her hands to cup them before her midriff where Elsa guessed the levitating features had placed themselves.

"The mouth was smiling." Anna faced her sister again and placed two index fingers on the edges of her mouth, stretching it to form a smile. "But it was missing two front teeth." Anna pointed to her two frontal incisors, her reproduction of the smile intact.

"Was it this creepy?" Elsa asked somewhat disturbed by her crazy looking sister.

"Yes." Anna nodded, finally dropping the grin. She returned her gaze to the mirror, recalling her sisters warning of lopsided braids.

"And? What else?" The queen asked, intrigued as her fingers continued to intertwine crimson hair on their own.

"Well, I sat up, bravely you know because it takes so much more than that to scare me." Anna said offhandedly; Elsa kept her doubt to herself. "And I waited and watched as the eyes and smile got closer, and closer and closer…" The redhead's voice had become almost like a whisper, her body bending on itself as each 'closer' brought her nearer to her sister's face, who for her part had completely forgotten about her task, her hands idly holding the unfinished braid while her broad motionless eyes stared deeply into her sister's orbs.

"And when the moonlight shone on them…" She was but a breath away from the queen's mouth and Anna's mind sidetracked for a second when her senses were invaded by the chill that emanated from her sister's pink lips. Absentmindedly, she wondered how it would feel, such cold on her warm mouth.

Elsa's eagerness took her out of her reverie when she repeated, "And when the moonlight shone on them…?"

The redhead's gaze returned to the blue of her sister's orbs picking up where she had left, her voice retaking that mysterious tone.

"And when the moonlight shone on them I almost screamed when I saw…"She waited, and waited a little more until she was sure Elsa could not escape her enthrallment. And then she shouted. "A LITTLE GIRL!"

Elsa accompanied Anna's scream with a high pitched shriek and a loud thud. Anna burst into laughter, her guffaws echoing bouncing off the walls of the spacious room, until she saw that her sister had fallen of the side of the divan. Trying her best to control her chuckles, but failing miserably, she leaned over the edge to peer at the disheveled form of the queen.

"Elsa, are you alright?" The princess snickered. She did not even attempted to cover the humongous grin that covered her face when she saw the intense glare her sister was sending her.

"Anna!" Elsa shouted indignantly. How dare her sister scare her like that!...And how stupid of her to fall for it!

That was all it took for Anna to lose the little control she had. The princess fell to floor with a horselaugh, holding onto her belly that was starting to hurt, yet the pain seemed to only titillate her more. Queen Elsa rolled her eyes, annoyed, but not enough to be immune to her sister's infectious laughter. She bit her lip to keep from following suit, but when it seemed like Anna was never going to stop laughing at her expense, a chuckle escaped her. She covered it quickly by pulling lightly on one of Anna's scarlet braids.

"Stop laughing moron." She demanded throwing the plait towards Anna's face. It did not hit because Anna rolled onto her side in that precise moment.

"The queen said moron." She laughed even more heartily, tears gathering on the corners of her eyes as she looked up into the less irritated face of the queen.

Elsa rolled her eyes again. "What are you, five?" She asked trying to project her anger through her voice, which was very ridiculous she knew, considering she was already smiling.

"No, I'm nine." Anna countered. Well she was nineteen, obviously that meant that in child years she was nine.

"I see." Elsa played along. "Well, then no more cake before bedtime for you; especially if it's going to give you silly dreams."

"What? No!" Now that was just not fair, Anna thought. She hoped her sister was just kidding, but just in case she wasn't, the princess got on her hands and knees and crawled over to the queen ready to beg for misericord. "You can't do that!"

"Of course I can, I'm the queen!" Elsa stated as she eyed her sister wearily. The girl kept crawling in her direction with no indicative of stopping; it made her suspicious of her intentions.

"You are my sister. Sisters don't do that to each other!" Anna bemoaned, beginning to creep over her sister's bent knees.

Elsa tried to shove her off with surprising difficulty. "They don't push each other over couches either!"

"I'm younger but I'm also stronger than you Elsa. It's all the outside exercise." Anna commented lightly, easily grasping the queen's wrist and pinning them besides her blond locks. "And it was an accident!" She defended herself through a lie, at last managing to straddle Elsa's thighs after much scuffle; she was stronger but her sister was persistent.

"No it wasn't." Elsa grunted. She moved her hands up and down, from side to side and she attempted to turn them, but nothing worked in freeing her wrists from Anna's clutches.

"Alright fine, not so much an accident." Anna relented, tightening her thighs around her sister's to keep her from moving around so much. "But it was a harmless joke!"

"And this is the consequence of your harmless joke." Elsa shrugged as best she could in her human chains.

"You are abusing your power you know?" Anna leaned down, closer to the pale face below her, and glared. The queen lowered the edges of her mouth in an expression that clearly stated she couldn't care less. Anna gasped, aghast, then whined some more. "Come on Elsa! If you tell the servants they won't get the joke and they will never let me have more cake until you say so!"

Anna moved forward and backwards, shaking the queen's wrists, and with it the rest of her body. Through her thin gown, Elsa could feel the skin of Anna's inner thighs brushing against her own as the princess continued to jump on her as part of her rant.

"Anna!" She called, her lap was becoming awfully warm for reasons beyond her comprehension.

"Anna!" She said urgently, alarmed as the heat ascended through her hips.

"ANNA!" She shouted when she felt the ardor reach her cheeks as it intensified below her navel.

Anna halted at once; worry filling her chest at her sister's tone. She looked down to find Elsa breathless, her cheeks flushed and her pupils dilated. She gulped, her sister looked…and she felt….

"Um, who said it was joke?" Elsa asked in a breath, and just like that whatever conclusion Anna was beginning to reach vanished with the continuity of their previous banter and the reappearance of Elsa's composure.

The princess squinted her eyes as she leaned down to peer into her sister's face. "…I will tickle you."

Elsa chuckled, odd moment completely forgotten as a result of her sister's goofiness. " Ha! I'm not ticklish." She bragged.

"Damn." Anna spat to the side. When would she remember that tickling was her weakness, not Elsa's?

"Anna!" The queen chastised. What was it with her mouth lately? Could this be Kristoff's fault? She wondered, already considering having a long conversation with the mountain boy.

"I said darn!" The ginger tried to cover up, but it was too late. Her gaze fleeted to the side, more than necessary confirmation of her untruthfulness.

"…Right." The queen rose an unbelieving eyebrow. "Could you release me now?"

Her cold breath clashed with Anna's cheek. "No. Not until you give me back my cake."

"Anna…no". Elsa said resolutely.

"No?" Seriously, was her sister being this stubborn?

"No." She was. Elsa shook her head, amusement swirling within her. She could say yes, after all she was not serious about not letting her have any more cake just because she scared her off the divan, but she liked to be able to say no to her once in a while for things that weren't really that important; if only to feel like she'd won, and to see her adorably petulant expressions.

"Then a change of tactics must be made." Anna stated, nodding once.

"What are you planning now? I already told you I'm not ticklish."

"Oh I know, I know." She smirked, making Elsa frown suspiciously. "I cannot tickle you, but I can kiss you!"

"Kiss me?" The queen's voice rose into a falsetto that made Anna laugh.

"Yes! Melt away your cold heart with my kisses my dear Ice Queen!" She declared and dove right into her attack.

Elsa couldn't help the fit of giggles that rumbled her stomach as Anna pecked her cheek over and over again. "Anna stop being so silly!"

"Give up the cake!" The princess kissed Elsa's cheekbone, releasing it with a loud popping sound.

"No!" Elsa denied her, giggling still.

"Fine!" The redhead acquiesced, kissing along her sister's jaw. Maybe her sister was not tickled by her fingers, but her mouth seemed to be accomplishing what her hands had failed at.

Anna trailed her lips over the fine line of the queen's jawbone, listening for a rising in mirth, until she reached just below her ear. It had been playful, but the combination of the scent of her skin and her recently washed hair fogged the princess's mind for a second, before she carried on with her assault and descended over an alabaster neck. In her journey, she failed to notice how the queen was barely laughing anymore, - her chuckle's appearing sporadically – and how the temperature of her flesh was not nearly as cold as it usually was.

"Are you melting yet?" Anna whispered as she lifted to nuzzle her sister's cheek. Her murmur sounded alien to her ears, her tone deeper than what she had meant it to be. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open and her gaze fell on the profile of the queen.

'_Yes.'_ Elsa wanted to say, to scream, to whimper vehemently. She had melted. Something had begun to dissolve minutes that felt like ages ago, beginning from the moment their thighs brushed together. She knew not what it was, or how it had happened, but she was incapable of stopping it, of controlling it. Her body, normally cold to the bone, was aflame.

As Elsa turned her head she felt Anna's lips slide all the way to the edge of her mouth, drawing a path of warmth along her skin. She just knew that her sister had to be able to see her face, her physical state, the flaming of her cheeks magnified by her mortification. Mortified because of what? She could not fathom a reason at the time. Yet, surely her sister could hear it, the deafening pounding of her heart.

But Anna could hear nothing but her own palpitations, her own stammering breath. She could perceive only the sensations of cool fabric on her burning skin, of the softness of velvet flesh against her palms and the pressure that converged in a profound section of her body.

In the infinite silence that surrounded them, they stared, cloudy azure into bright blue, until the awkwardness began to make itself known and the sisters hurried to find words with which to fill the stillness. Anna opened her mouth which was no longer attached to her sister's skin at the same time that Elsa made to speak.

But what the sisters were going to say, (something related to their situation or a surrendering of cake) got stuck in their throats when a knock resounded into the room like the loudest of Kongs.

"Princess?" A feminine voice was heard; a servant who apparently had not been informed that the queen would wake her sister herself that morning.

The girls who had yet to stand from the floor looked to the door, then back to each other, then again to the door as it was pounded for a second time. "Princess, are you alright?"

The question was soon followed by the shaking of the doorknob. Hastily, the sisters scampered off the carpeted floor. They made it to their feet just in time for a middle aged woman to insert her head around the door.

The woman was initially surprised at finding the princess and queen in the same room. She entered and bowed to them both, "My queen, I did not know you would be here." She commented apologetically as she straightened her back; her hazel eyes rising with her bodily ascension over the figures of her superiors. She examined them, mostly because of the perplexity that invaded her at their behavior.

From the princess she could expect, the unbecoming skittishness, the shifting eyes, the hiding of a lock of ginger hair behind an ear, even the scratching of her left arm. But from the queen, the nervous demeanor, the playing of her right hand's fingers with her left's and her overall tense posture not at all the poised woman she always showed, was indeed baffling. Moreover, the rather ferocious flush they were sporting would certainly call for perplexed suspicion out of the most trustworthy of persons.

Hazel eyes squinted.

But…wait…she knew what had happened here. A knowing glint settled in her orbs and a smirk appeared on her lips, unsettling the siblings even more.

Elsa hurried to speak, to deter the woman from…misunderstanding? "Yes, I came to… um – " The words jumbled within her brain. Why was that? She was going to say the truth! "Help Anna prepare for today's festivities, since we all know how much of an early riser she is."

Anna nodded her head in affirmative, the words taking longer to register in her flustered mind. "…wait, what? Hey!" She shouted when the offense finally hit her. She glared at her sister, such falsehood! She was always awake early; they just thought she was sleeping because she never left her room before noon.

Elsa gave a quick glance and a shrug towards her indignant sister as the maid chuckled lightly at the girls banter.

"Of course, your Highness. And I thank you for lessening my work." She bowed with the light rib.

The queen's mirth escaped her with decorum. Anna was not amused.

"I'm glad to have been of service to you both." Anna quipped sarcastically. "Now that you see I'm awake Clarisse, was there anything else you wanted?"

Smiling at the princess's sensitivity the servant woman said. "As a matter of fact, yes princess. My other task was to remind the queen that the Royal Coordinator is waiting in the conference room to discuss the last details of today's Christmas Eve Festival."

"Of course, how could I forget about him?" The queen berated herself. "Tell him I'll be down in a minute."

"We'll be down in a minute." The princess corrected insistently.

"You'll be coming with me?" Elsa asked, incredulous. When had Anna ever wanted to be part of any type of royal meeting?

"Yes! You promised!" Anna countered. "Or did you also forget that you said that if I got up early we could spend the whole day together?...Not that I got up late anyway…or…less early…I'm always awake on time, you know."

"Right." Elsa teased.

Anna rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'm not allowing you to escape through a silly meeting." Obviously, how foolish did her sister think she was? If she let her go for a reunion she might as well considered her lost for the rest of the day.

Elsa spared her, a tight smile helping her hold onto the tickle Anna's poor excuses produced in her belly, She turned to address the maid, "Well, you heard the princess."

"Of course. I'll tell him you'll be down as soon as you finish your wrestling match." The woman bowed. "But do fix your dresses first your majesties." She quipped, tightening her lips to conceal a smile while pulling on the doorknob and retreating from the room.

…the click of the door was as harsh on the royal eardrums as the returning blush on their cheeks. Elsa sighed, daring a glance down at her dress. The side of it had somehow caught on a snowflake widening the slit and exposing the majority of her right leg. How embarrassing, she thought, her eyes closing at having been found in such an unkempt state.

"I won!" In the deafening silence, Anna's shrilling call startled the ashamed queen, who ignoring the mirror mess that was her sister waited less than a breath to chastise her.

"Anna, don't encourage her!" She said, but the chide only conjured more mirth from the already giggling princess. Sighing at her sister's irremediable behavior, the queen strolled towards the exit of the room, "This is why you get no cake."

That certainly killed the jollity of the princess. "Wait, what?"

Her laughter abruptly dropped, her pale blue eyes raised to confirm the veracity of such horrible statement. At seeing that the regal figure of her sister had suddenly left her bedchambers, she hurried after her.

"Elsa you can't be serious!" Her laments trailed through the hallways. "Oh don't be that way…I swear I'll make the little girl haunt you at night!"

If only the morning could have been so fun and relaxing for Kristoff.

The Royal Ice Deliverer of Arendelle wished with all of his kindhearted being that he too could be at the palace entertaining himself with the princess's shenanigans, or at the very least back at his cottage nursing a cup of burning coffee or munching on a carrot, but neither he nor Sven had that convenience at the moment.

No, because having a royal title did not mean he was rich. He still had to work, hence why his dear friend kept pulling on a carriage full of ice blocks as he guided him to their next destination.

It was freezing, and once again he asked himself why he was even trying. Talk about a supply and demand type of problem, it always happened to him on winter. Luckily he had learned early in life to save some of his summer earnings for when the cows turned dry. Still, just because sometimes he did get to sell some ice preventing him from emptying his savings, he prevailed and made the effort every morning.

With long steps he made it to yet another house. Hopefully, the owner of this one would not look at him as if he was crazy for trying to sell ice on winter; like he had any other choice.

He knocked and uncovered his masked mouth when the door began to open.

"Good morning ma'am, are you in need of some ice?" He thumbed towards his cart, where a sitting Sven was waiting.

The woman's right eyebrow rose. Nope, he was not going to get a different response with this one. He was sure that when she parted her lips she was going to lecture him on how useless his business was at that moment. However, a scream in the distance halted her from speaking any further as well as stopped him from paying her any attention.

His eyes shifted briskly in search of the source. Down the road, Kristoff could see a woman running as fast as her pudgy legs could carry her. She chased after a boy, who for being so short and holding onto a heavy looking log had already managed to extend the distance between him and his tracker.

"Stop! Give that back you little thief!" The plump woman shouted, although Kristoff needed not to hear her to know what was transpiring before him.

In a swift motion, he unhinged the ice-full cart from Sven's neck and mounted him to follow after the boy; it was worthless cargo anyway. Kicking on the reindeers sides, Sven sprinted in the direction of the commotion. Riding by the woman, the blond man shouted that he would get her belongings back before focusing on the trail of the speedy youngster who had just noticed he was being pursued by a more challenging opponent.

The boy raced through the streets, sidestepping Kristoff's hands behind barrels, carriages and other random obstacles. They made it to the plaza, where the conglomeration of people made it all the more harder for Kristoff to keep a lock on him. The Ice Deliverer stopped in the middle of the square to pinpoint the location of the boy who had gotten lost in the multitude. He spotted him quickly enough, running at the other end of the plaza and almost reaching the river.

"Hiya!" Kristoff yelled and Sven surged forward immediately.

The human sea parted for him, and soon Kristoff found himself a hair away from the boy's shirt. He tightened his legs around Sven's midriff and leaned to the right, with the added length, he extended his arm as far as it would go to finally catch the little runt. But when he was about to close his grasp the, boy flew. Eyes widened in surprise, Kristoff pulled on the reins of his friend to prevent a promising cold fall into the freezing waters of the lake. Meanwhile, the boy who had jumped into the river, body first and mind later, had somehow managed to land on the stolen log and was now using it as a raft to sail to the other side.

"Ingenious brat". Kristoff huffed, his gaze skipping from the boy to his surroundings. He couldn't just let him go. He was a righteous man and therefore felt the need to teach this boy the wrong of his ways; now, when he was still young and impressionable.

"Jackpot." He murmured when he recognized the repaired bridge. Its condition left much to be desired, what with all the snow from the previous days that had made a home on its planks, but it would have to do.

He led Sven up and across it. "Okay now, easy boy."

By the time they traversed the bridge, the kid was docking on the edge as well. The boy stared, his eyes shifting from the log to the blond in clear inner debacle on whether he could take the time to retrieve the wood without getting caught, or not.

At the sound of Sven's hooves, he concluded that he could not.

He dashed towards the forest with Kristoff hot on his barefooted heels. Fortunately for him, the woods were thick, which meant his small frame was actually an advantage. It took little more than a few premeditated turns to confuse the reindeer and his rider as he succeeded in getting lost within the boscage.

"Where did he go?" An inquiring frown took residence on Kristoff's brow. His head moved from side to side at the smallest sound: a rustling of leaves to his left, a snapping of branches to his right, and then upfront, the top of a head with brown curls.

"After him Sven!" He pointed up front and the reindeer's hooves struck the ground with the strength of security. They had him now; they were both certain of it.

Self-confident enough that neither one saw the clearly visible rope on the soil, which, at the first touch of a furry leg, leaped off the ground taking the reindeer with it; gravity fulfilled its job with the blond rider, who fell on the dirt with a rather painful sounding thump.

"Oooww." Kristoff moaned, unsure of which part of his body he should doss first. The head? Or the rump? The ache was equal on each.

When the pain subsided and he was finally able to sit up, he arrived to the conclusion that he should have not gotten out of bed that morning. The blankets had been so soft and welcoming, but no, he had to go to work, and even worst, he had to be a law abiding citizen who worried for the future of its society.

Kristoff could not comprehend how this had happened. He was a grown up man, and his best friend a grown up reindeer, yet a child had bested them both. To think he had been dropped on his arse while his dear friend Sven hanged from a tree, what a bruise to his pride.

Laughter subtracted him from his sulking and he looked up to glower at the balancing form of the aggravating boy. He was sitting on the same broad branch Sven was dangling from, peeking down on them with the biggest grin that Kristoff had ever seen on a child, or on anyone for that matter.

He looked like the damned Cheshire cat. He would know, because Anna had made him read the book.

**A/N: Oh my God, I feel like I just gave birth to that chapter. I hope you enjoyed my newborn, XD. **

**Feel free to leave a review if you desire. **


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